Unraveled
by Windsurf
Summary: We humans are a weak race; how did we ever survive, walking around on two sticks without any fur?  And what is hair?  A cross between feather and fur?  No way!  It's time to set the good Guardians straight.
1. The Ball

**Hello! Before I start, there are some rather important things about this story that weren't in the summary:**

**1 talon = 2 inches**

**This story has a major OC in it that is a humanoid magical character.**

**If you are interested in history, or are taking AP World History, consider this a crash course. This story will delve very deeply into human history and nature – and hopefully present it in a memorable and interesting manner.**

**This story aligns itself with the book series, not the movie (although I do want to see the movie!). The plot starts right before **_**The River of Wind**_**. It will end at the end of the series.**

**I do not own Guardians of Ga'Hoole. Or many of the passages within this story, although I do go on tangents and change the series' plot somewhat. The further you go, the more it changes.**

**And lastly, I do not own World History textbooks!**

**Let us begin!**

**GUARDIANS OF GA'HOOLE: Unraveled**

**Chapter 1: The Ball**

_It was fascinating_, Otulissa thought as she gazed at it, tilting her head this way and that so she could observe it better. Around her, owls chattered and churred, admiring Trader Mags' wares, while they milled around the brightly-lit and festively-decorated Great Hollow.

Otulissa, however, stayed in place, enraptured by the little 3-talon-wide ball that glimmered a reddish, brownish gold color (A/N: think auburn) in the candles' flickering light. This glowing color, so similar to that of her own plumage except it caught the light much more, was what had attracted her in the first place and now that she looked closer, she saw that it had many other uncommon characteristics.

"Ah, that'un be an interestin' bauble there," Bubbles, Trader Mag's assistant, nodded sagely.

"Where did it come from?" Otulissa asked, still entranced.

"Surprisingly, not a castle." Bubbles ruffled her black feathers uncomfortably.

"Then where did you find it?"

Bubbles coughed and then glanced at the Spotted owl. Well, it wouldn't look too bad if she left and asked Trader Mags … Otulissa probably wouldn't even notice she had gone. The magpie shook her head as she walked away. Otulissa had never shown such interest in their offers before; if anything, she had shown the utmost contempt. Bubbles knew she wasn't terribly smart, but she also knew Otulissa's inexplicable behavior was unusual to the point of ethereal. _Well, whatever_, she decided. It certainly wasn't her business.

"What?" Trader Mags squawked when Bubbles came up to her. "Can't you see I'm busy trying to organize this?" She gestured to the large variety of cloths she was putting up as a display.

"Otulissa found sommat she likes," Bubbles replied. "That ball you found."

Trader Mags' eyes widened. "Here," she ordered. "Try to put these in some sort of order, and quickly."

"Yes, ma'am," Bubbles responded, bobbing her head as Trader Mags flew over to Otulissa purposely.

"Taken an interest, I see," Trader Mags said by way of introduction.

Otulissa just nodded in response, lost in the questions about the sphere in front of her.

"It's a rare artifact. Found it by a pool in the Shadow Forest. It caught my eye." _The way it's caught yours_, Trader Mags added silently, almost disturbed by how focused the Spotted owl was on the ball.

"It's most unusual," Otulissa remarked. "What is it made of?"

Here Trader Mags shifted just as Bubbles had. It was not good business to not know about what one sold, but in truth she had no idea.

"It's not any material I've ever seen."

"I'm not sure," Trader Mags admitted reluctantly. "But it must be valuable if no one has ever seen it, let alone knows what it is."

"Hmmm," was Otulissa's only response. "It looks a little like silk with those delicate strands that are shrouding it, but the strands aren't organized the way they would be in a piece of fabric. They don't seem to follow any particular pattern." Otulissa picked the ball up and turned it, noting how the strands flowed easily over the surface as a gentle breeze swirled around the hollow. "I believe," she continued slowly, "that I would like to study it."

Trader Mags let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Surely this was a moment to celebrate! Otulissa, the owl with no interest, the one with disdain for Trader Mags' business, the being that had made a point of not trading anything, had come down from her isolated perch.

"Well, if you have any of those glass swirls, I would be quite happy. Difficult to find, those are," Trader Mags said, barely able to conceal her excitement.

"I don't have any," Otulissa sighed. _What do I have?_ She quickly took an inventory of her possessions, looking at what she could trade. She had to figure this ball out! "I do have a collection of stones, some from the volcanoes in the Beyond."

"From a volcano?" Trader Mags perked up.

"Let me get them." Otulissa regretfully tore her eyes away from the ball and went to her hollow, promptly returning with a few of the gems.

"I believe these will do quite nicely, dear," Trader Mags almost cooed when she saw them. They were so bright! A light green that shined in the lights and sparkled. She might just keep them for herself…

"So it's a deal?" Otulissa wanted to get to work cracking the ball's secrets.

"A deal it is," Trader Mags responded, and the transaction was finished as they both shook talons and bobbed their heads in a gesture of respect to the other, the customary ending to any trade.

With delight, the birds left with their spoils, each believing they had gotten the better bargain.

"Hello, Otulissa," a voice greeted her. Otulissa looked away from the ball again to see Soren in front of her.

"Hello," she replied. "I was just heading to my hollow."

Soren noticed the item in her talons and his eyes widened in astonishment. Otulissa _never_ traded with Trader Mags, a bird she scorned to the utmost. "Found something?"

"Yes, and it's absolutely fascinating!" Soren bent down and observed the ball that seemed to fit in Otulissa's talons perfectly as she chattered on.

"What is it?" he wondered aloud.

Otulissa's face fell; she hated not having an answer to any question. "I don't know, but that's why I'm taking it to my hollow to study! I'm sure it has the most interesting properties, things we've never seen or maybe even heard of before-"

"And you're missing the rest of the night?" Soren asked as he looked at Otulissa. "There's going to be a dance with the song Madame Plonk has been working on for-"

"Of course!" Otulissa exclaimed as she began to leave. "Excuse me, but I really am anxious to get started! Good light, Soren!" With that, Otulissa left and Soren shook his head in puzzlement at his friend's newfound focus point. Well, that was Otulissa for you. Unwilling to leave a puzzle unsolved or a question unanswered.

Otulissa hurried up to her hollow, taking the air-way and landing slightly awkwardly in her hollow due to the ball in one of her claws. Setting it on her study table, she pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and some ink, and looked at it thoughtfully.

"What are you?"

A good scientist always observes firs, so Otulissa made her standard observational chart. At the top, she neatly printed, _The Sphere_ ("The Ball" sounded so unrefined).

Box 1: Sight. Goldish-brown in color, delicate strings covering the ball's surface, moving constantly whenever some wind blew by them. Spherical.

Box 2: Smell. Otulissa sighed. Owls didn't have much of an olfactory sense. Bringing the ball – _sphere_ – close, she breathed in.

Nothing. Just the regular sylvan smell that it would have gotten from sitting by a pool in the Shadow Forest where the scavenging Trader Mags had found it.

Box 3: Taste. That was an experiment Otulissa was not about to do, seeing as judging by the smell, the sphere wasn't any type of food. She blinked. _I should add that to the 'negative logic' list_. "Not food," she muttered as she wrote it in the designated column.

Box 4: Sound. Placing the fur over her hollow's opening, Otulissa set the sphere on her desk. She stood in front of it, and, closing her eyes, strained her ears.

Once again, nothing. Otulissa frowned unhappily when only silence met her ears.

And the last box, Touch. Gingerly, Otulissa picked the sphere up and gently ran her talons over it, scared of damaging it in some way or other. It didn't really have much of a texture. It wasn't hard, instead giving underneath her talons, but it couldn't be classified as soft. It was…fairly firm. The silk-like strands enclosing the object (if it wasn't entirely made of them) were smooth, with some sticking up a little beyond the sphere's surface. She hefted it up and down a little and quickly made note that it was surprisingly heavy.

Determining that this was all there was, Otulissa sank onto her perch with another sigh and felt a headache coming on as she looked at the notes that covered barely a third of her parchment.

_How in Glaux's name am I going to find out what this ball is?_


	2. The Fish

**Thanks, SAR! **

**Chapter 2: The Fish**

Two days later, Otulissa was still perched at her desk, having not left her hollow. Eyes narrowed thoughtfully, she sipped the tea that she had asked one of the nestmaid snakes to bring up as she tiredly gazed at the sphere. So far, she had discovered only one more thing: the sphere was warm, surprisingly so. Yesternight, she had left it in the coldest part of the hollow for a significant period of time as she went through her books, searching for any information that would help her solve this mystery. When she disappointedly put the books back after her fruitless search and brought the sphere back to her desk, Otulissa had almost dropped it, startled by the comforting warmth emanating from it.

So it was warm, indicating it was living. But if it had been living, she would have heard a heartbeat. Unless is belonged to the plant kingdom. Shaking her head, Otulissa put "animal" under her negative list and considered plants. She picked the sphere up again and admired it as the candlelight shimmered over its golden form. There were no roots, so it wasn't a plant. Based on its non-green color, Otulissa had doubted it anyway.

A knock on the side of her hollow's opening abruptly pulled her out of her thoughts, making her drop the sphere.

"Hi, Otulissa."

Otulissa turned around. "Hello, Digger, Gylfie," she greeted the Burrowing Owl and Elf Owl.

Digger noticed her disgruntled expression. "Still no luck?" he asked sympathetically. Martin, who had stopped by yesternight to see if Otulissa would join them for tweener, had told him about Otulissa's new problem. Apparently, he hadn't been exaggerating about Otulissa's frustration. And judging by expression of Ruby, who had stopped by not half a night ago to talk with Otulissa, it had only grown.

"It's not a matter of luck," Otulissa sniffed. "It's about science, attention to detail, applying knowns to unknowns…"

'Oh, boy,' Gylfie thought, tuning Otulissa out. She must be really agitated if she's backtracking like that. The rest of the Chaw of Chaws had helped her get over that awful habit she used to have talking just to show that she knew more than her audience.

"We just came to see if you were coming to Night Flight," Gylfie said, interrupting the constant monologue coming from Otulissa's beak.

Otulissa blinked, not at all fazed. "No, I'm sorry. I can't-"

"It's fine," Digger reassured her, more to keep her from talking at them and hurting their ears than anything else.

"Good luck!" Gylfie called back over her shoulder as they flew out into the night, proving that she hadn't listened to a single word of her recent rant.

Otulissa watched them go for a moment, her gizzard twitching at the remembrance of past flights, before she put the piece of moss she had in front of the opening to block the sight. 'Focus, Otulissa,' she told herself. 'You need to focus.' She turned around to attack her puzzle again, only to gasp.

_Where is it?_

The sphere wasn't on her desk and a quick glance told her it wasn't in the room. But it had to be. Picking up her candle, Otulissa looked for the tell-tale glimmer, the unique color that the dark, which only let her see shapes and forms, concealed. Where had it been last? She had been holding it, observing it, when Digger and Gylfie came in, surprising her into dropping it…

_Where is it?_

A sudden splash sounded in the darkness and Otulissa triangulated the sound the way only an owl could, her head immediately snapping around in the direction of the source.

Slowly, Otulissa peered down into the teacup.

The tea swirled, little waves rippling across the surface. When she thought she saw some movement in its depths, she brought the candle closer to the brownish water and froze.

Oak-leaf green eyes stared up at her amid brown, silken tendrils that waved back and forth with the mini-waves in the cup. Come to think of it, except for the color difference, those strands looked a lot like what had been covering the ball…

Otulissa jerked back when two limbs parted the floating mess and the eyes came closer, yet staying completely immersed under the water. Another tense moment passed.

Otulissa took a deep breath, her gizzard thrumming with excitement as she decided to make the first move. "Hello," she said calmly.

No response. Those amazingly green eyes, not light like the wolves', more dark like the forest, didn't even blink. Why didn't the creature say something? Unless it was dumb...but those eyes said the complete opposite, looking clever and alert.

Wait – it was underwater. Maybe it couldn't speak underwater…so how could it breath? Otulissa suddenly thought with a jolt. In a panic, she reached out to grab the creature, only to have it suddenly disappear behind the shifting tendrils, the eyes gone. _Silly_, she told herself. _If it couldn't breathe underwater, it wouldn't have been underwater, now would it?_ And seeing as to how quickly the creature had disappeared, there one minute and gone the moment Otulissa blinked, water was its natural habitat.

More splashing came from the cup and Otulissa noticed that the level of the tea in the cup had decreased dramatically. So much, in fact, that the creature was having trouble staying fully submersed, which it was clearly trying to do as it swam in frantic circles around the confining cup, the strands following a circular path.

Otulissa jumped into action and flew – it was quicker than taking the inside passages – to the kitchen.

"Hello, dearie," the cook owl positively beamed at her. "It's been a while since I've seen you. Heard from Audrey that you had asked to take your tea upstairs."

"Yes, well," Otulissa stuttered for a moment as she thought frantically about how to quickly get the water before regaining her usual pose of confidence, "I'm actually still working on it, but I need a rather large cup for the experiment I'm doing concerning the density of the subject I'm studying-"

"Of course, dearie," the cooking owl quickly assured her. "You just take whatever you need. In fact, I think this should work quite nicely."

Otulissa silently thanked Glaux. She knew most found her informative lectures irritating, and while this annoyed her to no end (what types of scholars were they?), at least she knew how to use her skill to an advantage. Like now, for instance. Hurriedly, Otulissa took the cup in her talons and strained upwards, the weight of the water pulling her down. "Thank you," she told the matron as she finally made it into the air and laboriously flew back to her hollow.

"Here you go," she told the – something – as she set the huge cup down beside the normal one. The creature didn't seem to have heard her, still swimming in those rapid circles. Remembering the last time, Otulissa was hesitant to touch it. "Hello?" she asked loudly. If this didn't work, she'd try to tap it...although at the speed it was going, that would be hard.

She was very surprised when she saw those eyes again, those deep green eyes that seemed to pierce through her gizzard and make it shiver. "This one's bigger," she said as she gestured to the cup beside them. The creature didn't seem to understand. "You can get in this one," Otulissa said loudly, this time a little slower.

It took a glance around its surroundings before suddenly becoming a blur. A second later, it was submersed in the bigger cup.

Otulissa blinked when she couldn't see the creature. _Great Glaux, that thing is fast_, she almost muttered.

She blinked again when she looked at the bigger cup.

The cup actually wasn't really a cup; it was more like a jar, one of those things the Others used to make, made of transparent glass and twice as big as the cup. But that wasn't what made her stare.

The animal – Otulissa was sure it was an animal – had the strangest anatomy Otulissa had ever seen. Its eyes – the lushness of their green color still disturbed her a little – were set in a flat face, much like an owl's, but it didn't have a beak, instead favoring an odd-looking snout. What was so strange was that its mouth appeared to be underneath the snout, if those red lines were what she thought they were. Otulissa's stare slowly moved down the creature, shocked at what she discovered. It had four limbs with what looked like paws, but had no claws, instead sporting a slight webbing between the digits on each paw. Another astonishing feature was that it had no fur; its skin looked as smooth as an egg, with the only disturbance around its torso. It looked a bit like cloth, now that she thought about it. The long strands Otulissa had previously seen were all attached to its head – she thought; with this creature, you were not safe assuming anything – and formed a mass almost as big as the being itself.

"What are you?" Otulissa asked aloud.

As she expected, there was no response.

It must be a fish, she decided. It certainly didn't look like a fish since it had no tail, but it had taken to the water just like one. It actually looked more like a mammal, but mammals couldn't breathe underwater, and so none lived there. So it was a fish.

Otulissa sighed with heavy doubt in her mind and made a column named "Possibilities." 'Fish' she wrote neatly underneath it before looking at her observational chart. Was this creature even the same ball she had been looking at? The colorings and the shape were entirely different, but they had the same type of light threads she had seen. And she would have had both at the same time if they were different things. But how could a fish look like a ball?

"Otulissa?"

Otulissa jumped and spun around, her heartbeat speeding up to a high rate. What would happen if someone saw the fish? Would they try to hurt it? Eat it? What should she do about it?

Soren looked at her with concern as he pushed the moss curtain to the side a little. "Are you okay?" He stepped forward.

Otulissa glanced at the jar. "I'm fi…" Her words stuttered to a halt.

"You don't sound fine," Soren said as he walked further into the hollow. He glanced curiously at the jar. "What were you doing?"

As always, Otulissa had some sort of answer. "Just testing. You know, density and all," she lied, keeping with her original story as she felt a twinge of guilt tweak her gizzard. She hated lying.

Soren almost had his beak to the glass as he observed the brownish ball that lay inside. "I still don't get your fascination with this thing," he commented mildly. "Anyway, I came because I have something to say." He ruffled his feathers anxiously, too focused on his own discomfort to notice Otulissa's tense posture. "You can't stay here all the time."

"Of course not!" Otulissa cried.

"And that's pretty much what you've been doing," Soren continued hurriedly before Otulissa could continue and make him lose his courage to tell the Spotted Owl this. "I understand that you've come across a puzzle that you can't – that you're having trouble solving, but you can't stay holed up here. We need you. The Tree needs you. And you need the Tree. We can't wait for you; the ball can."

Otulissa considered his words silently for a moment, finally realizing how extreme she had been. But Soren was wrong; the ball couldn't wait for her. It was alive, and it needed someone to take care of it…but if she told him that, it would raise suspicions, and she didn't want anyone to find out what the ball was. A type of moss was one thing. A living, breathing, possibly sentient being was quite another. "So what do you propose?" she asked, scared of the answer.

"At least come to meals," Soren said firmly, gathering strength from Otulissa's consent to listen to him. "You don't have to be there very long, but it's something everyone's at."

Otulissa quickly glanced at the brown ball the drifted a little in the jar. Well, it wouldn't leave the jar, and like Soren had said, she didn't have to be gone that long…

"Please?" Soren asked, sensing an easily reached breaking point.

How much trouble could it be? "I'll come," Otulissa said solemnly. "Not tonight, because I'm really tired, but I realize I've been rather isolated lately. At the same time, though, I can't just abandon this."

"We're not asking you to," Soren assured her, smiling in relief as he left the hollow and replacing the moss curtain the way it had been.

Otulissa wasn't so sure about that as she looked at the ball. It had to be the fish. The only difference now was the coloring, but when she had looked at it, it had been dry whereas now it was wet. Speaking of which, Otulissa was astonished to see that the water's level had decreased the same way it had in the cup. _The fish must be absorbing it_, she decided.

She waited for a little while, thinking of what to do. The animal clearly couldn't understand her and she didn't want to frighten it again. She kept gazing at it fixedly until the ball seemed to uncurl a little. Those green eyes peaked out again before uncurling all the way, the strands floating away as the limbs straightened out, revealing the unusual creature Otulissa had seen before.

"I'm going to perch," Otulissa informed it slowly. It just looked at her as she fluttered up to her favorite perch in the hollow. _Wow_, she thought, _I really am tired_. Before, she had just said that to prevent Soren from finding out about the fish, but now, as she yawned, she realized just how hard she had been working. With one last peak at the level gaze, her head nodded forward, and Otulissa was lost in dreamless sleep.

**Yes, humans are quite clearly fish…For educational purposes, which is what this story is about, (I really hope everybody knows this, but I like to be VERY clear) humans are mammals!**

**Thanks for reading. This story will be moving pretty quickly up to the part where human history is introduced, and even then, I don't want it to be slow. Hope you liked!**


	3. Food and Conversations

**Moving quickly…**

**Chapter 3: Food and Conversations**

It seemed like hardly half a day had gone by when Otulissa opened her eyes, awakened by a loud clatter and a curious noise that sounded rather like a forceful wind that went "chu!"

"What-" she began as she opened her eyes when she suddenly remembered yesternight's events. The strangest fish she had ever seen. The water! She needed to get more, or else the fish would suffocate in the air… In alarm, Otulissa flapped her wings and rose up in the air, only to go yeep almost instantly and fall down to the floor. Thankfully, the hollow's ground wasn't far away.

Now, as for what caused her to go yeep, that was the question. With a small pot rolling away from it, the supposed "fish" was half-laying on the hollow's floor, using one of its forelimbs to rub its small, pointed snout while making a face. "Achu!" it went again, its head jerking forward. When it saw Otulissa, its eyes widened and getting up, it walked on all fours to the pot and picked it up with its forelegs. Rising up on its hindlegs, the animal stumbled and slowly toppled over with another bang as the pot pulled it off balance. Otulissa watched as this time, the animal rolled it back to her desk and laboriously lifted it back into its original position.

When it was done, it turned to face Otulissa again, a slightly sheepish look on its face – at least, Otulissa thought; with this creature, you couldn't assume anything – as it tried to rise back up on its hindlegs again, only to fall over – again. Something akin to confusion spread across its features as it began looking over itself.

Otulissa turned to the jar. As she had suspected, it was empty except for the water that reached the one-third point. The "fish," instead of in it, was stumbling around in front of her, trying to find its balance. Otulissa churred slightly when it stepped forward and tripped over the long, delicate strands that came from its back with a very surprised expression, falling smack on its face.

Unsure of what to do while the animal got its bearings, Otulissa began her nightly routine by lighting one of the many candles in her hollow, but it abruptly ended when Otulissa saw the familiar golden shine coming from the animal's…well…Otulissa stepped closer and peered down over the animal. It looked like ridiculously long, fine fur, long enough to create a curtain that completely concealed the rest of the animal. But why wouldn't it cover the entire animal? All animals with fur that she had ever seen had it all over them, covering their faces, their legs, their tails…speaking of which, this animal didn't seem to have one.

With a sigh, Otulissa returned to her desk and the paper on it that read "Possibilities" and "Negative Logic."

_Well, it isn't a fish_, she mused as she crossed the incorrect possibility out and put it under the other category. Fish needed to stay in water. Mammals needed to stay on land. And yet this animal could go on both, although it did seem to prefer water. Already, it was observing the transparent jar Otulissa had left it in.

"What are you?" she asked again, and the strange creature glanced up at her when it heard her words.

"Otulissa?" a voice asked outside her moss curtain.

Otulissa franticly looked at the animal, just in time to witness its bizarre ability to curl up into an almost perfect sphere.

"Otulissa," it said again. "Are you awake?"

"Yes," Otulissa replied. After a moment, she added, "Come in."

Twilight poked his head in. "I was sent to come get you," he said. "Was told to wake you up if I had to." Otulissa cocked her head in puzzlement. "You slept through the past night and a half," he explained gruffly.

Otulissa's eyes widened. "I'll be right there," she said. "Just…give me a few moments."

Twilight nodded and withdrew back outside. Otulissa didn't relax until she heard him fly away. Luckily, Twilight wasn't the type to hover over a person.

With apprehension, Otulissa walked purposely over to the currently ball-shaped critter. "Stay here," she ordered it slowly and firmly. "I'll be back soon, I'm just going to get something to eat." She refrained from cursing – it was very unrefined – when she thought of something else. "Are you hungry? What do you eat?" It hadn't had a meal for a while; how often did it need to eat? But she couldn't handle this problem now. "I'll bring you back something," she promised the incomprehensible green eyes and walked to the entrance to the inner passages, pulling back the skin that blocked it off. With one last look over her shoulder at the unmoving and unresponsive animal, Otulissa headed down to the Main Hollow.

**Linebreak**

Otulissa couldn't keep herself from fidgeting in the most undignified way at the table with her friends, the Band and the Colliering Chaw, who together formed the Chaw of Chaws. Her friends noticed her distraction, but assigned it to the most recent (and frustrating) project Otulissa had been working on, chattering on about the most recent developments in the tree. Otulissa barely paid attention and tried to keep her beak shut for fear of speaking her thoughts out loud as she usually did. What would the animal do in her hollow? Without supervision while she had been asleep, it had appeared to have gone poking around and exploring. What was it capable of? What would it do to her hollow? What was happening?

A familiar glimmer made Otulissa wilf, to the amazement of her friends.

"It's not that bad, Otulissa," Gylfie reassured her. Otulissa looked at her and nodded response, gaining back some of her mass. "But still…"

Having averted that attention, Otulissa returned her gaze to the golden ball that lay along the wall nearest them. _What was it doing here?_ Otulissa nearly jumped out of her feathers when it straightened slightly, just enough for the green eyes to peek out and observe the Hollow before disappearing again.

A few moments later, it uncurled again and the animal walked a little ways before suddenly becoming a fairly flat heap on the floor, its hair completely concealing it so that it would pass for a bump in the Hollow's floor. Otulissa tensed again as an owl walked right past it, churring with a few companions, only releasing it when they had gone. It was amazing. How could they have not noticed the critter? It was right there.

Wait…no, it wasn't. Where was it? Otulissa scanned the Main Hollow discreetly before finally finding it not three talons away from the position she had last seen it. The only way she had spotted it was by seeing the glow some of the fur gave off in the brightly lit Hollow. Otherwise, it had the perfect camouflage.

This did nearly nothing to soothe Otulissa's worry. _What is it doing here? Great Glaux, don't let anyone find it…_

**Linebreak**

Mrs. Plithiver sighed as Otulissa continued squirming. _What has her so worked up?_ Mrs. Plithiver could sense the worried emotions coming off of the owl like a torrent of waves. Once in a while, they would become more intense, but in no way did the flow's peaks correlate with the conversation; the emotions all gathered strength at the wrong times.

When the majority of owls had gone, Mrs. Plithiver spoke directly to Otulissa. "Otulissa, dear." Mrs. Plithiver didn't need to see to know the speed at which Otulissa's head had turned to face her. The worry was becoming fear and panic. "Can I have a few words with you after the meal?" The flood abated somewhat.

Otulissa nodded. "Of course, Mrs. P."

Not long later, Mrs. Plithiver led Otulissa to a more reclusive part of the Tree, one where they could speak privately. The turmoil Mrs. Plithiver sensed happening in the usually composed ryb was making her very concerned. Otulissa hadn't ever been this messy, not even when Strix Struma had died.

Unhurried, Mrs. Plithiver calmly wound herself into a loose coil in front of the waiting owl. "Now, dear. I sensed during the meal, and even now, that you are very worried."

"Well, yes, I mean, no, see," Otulissa began to babble, but Mrs. Plithiver ignored her and cut her off.

"What's bothering you?" she asked bluntly. It was best to be frank and direct with Otulissa.

"Nothing!" Otulissa stammered. "Nothing at all, just my research, my project." Mrs. Plithiver frowned as even more worried waves filled the small hollow.

"Otulissa, you can tell me," Mrs. Plithiver said gently.

Mrs. Plithiver witnessed Otulissa's struggle. What could make her have such a fierce internal war? Indecision cut through the air until Otulissa's strong voice.

"No!"

Otulissa stared in horror as the animal that was _supposed_ to be in her hollow walked in, balancing mostly on its back legs and using its front ones for added support. It stopped in front of her, directly between its desperate caretaker and the blind snake.

Silence reigned for a few moments.

"So, Otulissa," Mrs. Plithiver began. "Who is this?"

"Ummmm…" This was one of the few moments in Otulissa's life that she was absolutely speechless. And she hated it.

Mrs. Plithiver stayed still, observing the stranger who had walked in on them. It was…different to say the least. Calm. Curious. Mrs. Plithiver felt her heart stutter in surprise when she sensed its strange manner of walking and how it balanced on two legs while observing her, much like a bear. Mrs. Plithiver returned the greeting with equal intensity, taking in all the information she could about this new person. "Who are you?" she asked.

There was no answer, but Mrs. Plithiver felt more curiousity and some frustration enter the hollow.

Otulissa coughed. "It can't talk."

Mrs. Plithiver swung her head to face Otulissa. "Excuse me?"

"It has no language," Otulissa repeated, regaining some of her manner. Mrs. Plithiver had stayed calm, no violent reaction or wish to tell anyone about the strange creature before her, just a question. Who was it? Almost as if it was another fellow being with equal intelligence.

"What do you mean 'who?'" Otulissa questioned.

"I'm sorry?"

"Why did you ask 'who?' Why not 'what?'"

Mrs. Plithiver seemed a little confused. "Why would I say 'what?'"

Now Otulissa was confused. "It's a dumb animal, one no one has ever seen – at least to my knowledge – without awareness."

Mrs. Plithiver was silent for a moment. "What makes you say that?" She continued. "It does have awareness."

"How can you tell?" Otulissa asked, perplexed. "By definition, sentient beings communicate with each other."

"I…I can sense it," Mrs. Plithiver replied slowly. Otulissa remained respectfully silent as the old snake continued her thoughts. "It's not stupid. It's curious, anxious. It has feelings, and complex ones at that. There's more than just the basic instincts in that animal…well, almost."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Otulissa exclaimed. "I was going to get it something to eat, except I don't know what it eats."

"And you don't know what it is?"

Otulissa shook her head. "Like I said, I don't think anyone's every seen it before." She gave the animal a measuring look, which was returned by her subject.

"Well, the best way to find out would be to go to the kitchen, now wouldn't it?" Mrs. Plithiver asked as she began to slither down.

"Come along," Otulissa told the apparently-not-dumb animal, nodding her head in the direction Mrs. Plithiver had gone. The creature didn't even hesitate.

"Sentient?" Otulissa muttered as she watched it half-stumble down the passage. She highly doubted it.

**Linebreak**

The cook had kindly allowed Otulissa to poke through all the cupboards, searching for something the fussy critter would eat. Pulling out some mouse, she hurried up to Mrs. Plithiver, who was with the as-of-yet-unidentified animal.

"Maybe this will work," Otulissa suggested, and placed the raw meat before it.

It didn't so much as glance at it.

"I think it's safe to assume that it doesn't eat meat," Mrs. Plithiver said, sensing the disgust coming from the creature. They had tried cooked meat, raw meat, mouse, squirrel, bats, even, and nothing. The insects had had even less success, with the animal climbing the wall of the passageway at an astonishing speed that made it invisible for a moment at the sight of the delectable centipedes Otulissa had brought.

With an exasperated sigh, Otulissa returned a little while later with some milkberries and a cup of milkberry tea.

That was a fiasco. The little critter had approached the tea, wrinkling its snout, and after one sniff, kicked it away and leaped back, sending the cup crashing down the passage. The kitchens would have to make do with one less cup, although they had managed to salvage the saucer.

"I give up!" Otulissa claimed desperately. Mrs. Plithiver remained silent, letting the Spotted Owl rant and release the pent-up waves of desperation, concern, frustration, and…satisfaction?

"Maybe you don't have to," Mrs. Plithiver said. They looked at the animal, who was happily munching away at the milkberries, holding them one at a time in its front paws with its amazingly dexterous digits and taking large bites while the witnesses watched, stunned. Plain berries. Ewww.

When there were no more left, the animal rubbed its front paws together with a few sharp cracks like it was dusting something and looked up at them, the corners of its mouth turning up to show blunt, white teeth.

The moment Otulissa cautiously stepped back, the mouth returned to a straight line, and the dark tufts it had over its eyes peaked. In the universal gesture of confusion, it cocked its head to the side.

"Come closer, Otulissa," Mrs. Plithiver commanded. Otulissa hesitantly obeyed, the animal's expression becoming more neutral the closer she came. When she stood beside Mrs. Plithiver, the mouth's corners rose again.

"Stay there."

Otulissa stared at the teeth the animal was displaying, but other than that, it made no move. Its eyes crinkled up and for a moment, the mouth closed while the corners were still upturned, before slightly parting again.

"It's smiling," she said in bewilderment. The smile stretched a little wider.

"It's happy," Mrs. Plithiver agreed, sensing the emotion. "Not threatening."

Some voices floated up from the kitchens.

"We'd better go," Otulissa said, glancing nervously in their direction. A little hesitantly, she reached out for the animal beside her, but it ran around her, once again moving faster than her eyes could follow. "Come," she told it firmly, looking it in the eyes.

"Go!" Mrs. Plithiver whispered, and slithered down a side tunnel.

After one last moment, Otulissa picked up a little ball and flew up among the Guardians to her hollow.

**Plithiver! Isn't that fun to say?**


	4. Awareness

**Disclaimer: Parts of this are directly from The River of Wind, so I don't own them.**

**Chapter 4: Awareness**

Why was she doing this? Why was she talking to a dumb animal? While Mrs. Plithiver was usually right, all other evidence pointed to the contrary. Sentient beings were aware of the people around. They communicated with them. They used language! This creature had none. It ignored her. So why was she bothering to talk to it when it was doing just that?

"You can't risk having people see you!" she reprimanded the small animal, who was looking at the hollow's floor. "You shouldn't have gone into the Main Hollow! Mrs. Plithiver found out and that's one too many! Thank Glaux she's an understanding individual, but most others aren't so wise! They might do something bad to you!"

Those green eyes peered up at her through a curtain of fur.

Otulissa sighed. "Mrs. Plithiver said you were curious. If that's why you're running around, I can bring things to you so you don't have to take chances by going to them."

The curtain was removed and a spark of hope seemed to light up its eyes.

"Okay? I'll explain and you'll stay here," Otulissa told them. She walked over to her desk, the animal following and almost bouncing with excitement. "This is my workspace. As a ryb, or teacher, of the Tree…you probably won't know what I'm talking about." The paw that was running along the desk's edge stopped for a moment. "This is a desk. It holds things, see?" She opened a drawer and the animal peered inside. "This drawer" – she said that word slowly – "holds my parchment. Others hold quills." She held up a quill for show. "And the rest have ink." Here she pushed her ink container to the inquisitive animal, who smiled again and dipped one of the digits on its right paw in it. Otulissa quickly snatched it back. "No! You use quills. See?"

The animal, balancing entirely on its hind legs, struck some sort of pose and crossed its forelegs somehow.

"No," Otulissa repeated firmly, putting the ink back.

The animal went over to her prized collection of books.

"Those are books. We read them." It observed them with interest, rising on its hind legs again (it seemed fond of that position) and running one paw down some of the spines. "We read books and write with quills on parchment."

No acknowledgement.

"Are you even listening?" Otulissa asked.

The animal turned around and looked at her, but both faced the entrance to the Tree's inner passageways when they heard claw-steps. "Hide!" Otulissa hissed. The animal didn't need to be told; in a blink, it was back in ball form and had rolled to a little corner.

"Excuse me?" A knock sounded on the far side of the hollow.

"Yes?" Otulissa asked, pulling back the curtain between them.

"This letter just arrived for you, ma'am," the owl said respectfully, bobbing his head. Otulissa took the letter he held out to her.

"Thank you," she told him.

"Your welcome." With one last respectful nod, the owl walked back.

Otulissa looked at the writing and her talons started to tremble when she saw the talonwriting. She walked over to her desk perched in front of it, unfolding the parchment to read the letter.

A prickly feeling made her turn and she jumped when she saw the animal a mere eighth talon away, gazing intently down at the writing.

"Interested? Bess is a secret, but I don't think she'd be too mad if I read her letter to you." _Besides_, she thought, _it's not like you can tell anyone about it._ With the animal still peeking over her shoulder (she was standing on part of the desk), Otulissa turned to the letter and began:

My dearest Otulissa,

It has been a long time since we have communicated or you have visited me here in the Palace of Mists. I have been in deep study of – or should I say "lost in?" – what we call "The Elsewhere." But now I am found, or rather I have found some astonishing documents pertaining to this region where the stars configure themselves into constellations we have never seen in the Five Kingdoms. As you know, until this time I had uncovered precious little documentation of The Elsewhere. Only star maps. I had always assumed that these were the creations of the Others – their astronomers and cartographers. But such is not the case. These star maps were not created by the Others, but by owls. There is in fact a sixth kingdom of owls. It is called the Middle Kingdom, and I believe it is within wingreach.

About a year ago, I discovered a deep recess in the library here that I had not even known existed. It had been concealed purposely behind a false wall, it turned out, constructed with some sort of clay and wattle at the back of an almost empty section of the library. The wall looked more like an ill-made bird's nest, a seagull-type of construction, or perhaps even a pack rat's cache. It wasn't.

Do you remember the slight earthquake we had many moon cycles ago? Well, apparently, it loosened the wattle and stones. For it was after the quake that I discovered the recess and in it what appeared to be fragments of parchment and scraped skins – perhaps mole or even lemming, the kind of coverings that the ancient owls often used to protect writings. They were not books such as the Others had left here in this library. These were fragments of writings, badly damaged and barely decipherable, but nonetheless, I could tell immediately that they were not the writings of the Others. It was not handwriting, but bore the distinct marks of a talon, perhaps more than one talon. I cannot even begin to describe to you the tumult in my gizzard. I suspect you might be feeling something of this now as you read this letter…

I am not sure how these fragments got here. From studying the talon writing, I sense there was more than one writer, but not many. Perhaps there were traveling scholars in those days who flew here from this distant kingdom to exchange information – but with whom? I know you must wonder why I have waited so long to write you about this discovery. First, I was not exactly sure what I had discovered. I kept hoping that I might find more. I found very little. And then, quite honestly, I was not sure what the existence of another kingdom, the sixth kingdom, would mean for our world. We have, after all, just come through a bad time – the Guardians in particular – with that dark period of the Golden Tree, the terrible arrests, and the Battle in the Beyond with Nyra. We all hope she is gone, but do we know with any real certainty? What would she make of the news of yet another kingdom? I felt that it was best to wait. But I have waited long enough.

I feel that it is imperative that you and the Band and, yes, possibly even the Chaw of Chaws, come immediately to the Palace of Mists. I do not want to elaborate any further about what I have learned is called the Middle Kingdom. Because of the uncertainty surrounding Nyra and the condition of her troops, I feel that news of this kingdom must be kept absolutely secret. The rest must know nothing until we decide what to do. Destroy this letter immediately upon reading it.

Your dear friend, Bess

After reading it again to commit it to memory, Otulissa set the paper in the fire of her hollow and watched the flames lick it up. "Another kingdom," she murmured. It was inconceivable. How could there have been another kingdom for centuries that they didn't know about? But she trusted Bess. It had to be true.

And she had to tell the Band, maybe even the Chaw of Chaws! No, Ruby and Martin didn't know about Bess, she'd tell the Band first and then they could decide what to do. Her gizzard quivered with excitement. A whole new world was out there! It had unknown plants, animals, weather systems, and the owls living there probably had an entirely different culture due to its long isolation! Things they could explore, discover, learn about! What could rival that?

Well, the animal sitting behind her could. With its forelimbs wrapped around its hind ones, it rocked back and forth, its green eyes staring vacantly at the floor.

Otulissa felt her mood sink as she remembered it. If she was going to fly to the mainland and learn about this new kingdom, she'd have to leave it behind; she couldn't risk taking it with her. Or she could just stay here.

No, she didn't want to do that. Besides the fact that she was incurably curious about the New Kingdom and anxious to learn about it, it would look suspicious. She couldn't very well tell her friends, "No, you go on, I'll give up the chance to learn about a kingdom we know nothing about!" Especially after she had told Soren that she would try to decrease her isolation. They'd ask for a reason, and she was not about to tell anyone about the new animal in the tree.

So she had to go. That left two options: she could take it with her or she could leave it here. Looking the animal over, she thought of all her unanswered questions concerning it and felt her gizzard thrum painfully the way it always did when she had questions that she couldn't answer. If she was going to cool down the burning desire she felt and answer any of them, she would have to spend time with it and observe it.

Which meant taking the animal with her, causing a whole other set of problems. She'd have to carry it, take care of it, make sure it got berries, and give it water. There were multiple pitfalls in that plan. Carrying it would be too noticeable and there was no other way it could come. And taking care of it would be difficult since it had such different needs from owls. Owls usually did not go scavenging for berries or grab cups of water on their travels; she'd look incredibly suspicious, and they could not afford that. Nobody could find out about the animal.

But having it stay raised a whole other set of problems. It would still have to be taken care of, and by someone who already knew about it. Where would-_Mrs. Plithiver_, Otulissa thought, suddenly grateful the old blind nestmaid snake had found out about the creature. _I'll have to ask her, but first, I'll go talk to Soren and make sure we're going_. The less talk on the subject of the alien creature living in her hollow the better.

"Stay here," Otulissa ordered the animal. Its eyes flicked up towards her, but then went back to the ground, barely giving her any recognition.

Otulissa ruffled her feathers in annoyance and trepidation and walked over to the opening of her hollow that led outside the Tree. A last glance confirmed that the animal was in the same place it had been before she had turned around.

With a bad feeling, Otulissa lifted off the floor and flew out, remembering the last time she had told it to stay…but it couldn't follow her out here; it couldn't fly. _You're being silly,_ she told herself. _Nothing is going to make it leave, and it didn't seem to want to go anywhere after I read the letter._

Slightly more assured, gizzard trembling as she called forth the idea of the New Kingdom, Otulissa landed on the limb just outside the Band's hollow and knocked.

**Not sure if this is a cliffhanger…but if it is, the next chapter will be out this weekend (probably).**

**On another note, the letter from Bess was copied directly from the book. I wanted to keep this story as close to the original as possible at first.**

**Good night!**


	5. A New Kingdom

**Alright, for those who are unclear on this…THE OC IS NOT A HUMAN! Sigh. It is similar, but it is actually a different species! A human would not fit in a hollow or be able to cough-talk with-cough the owls. I'm sticking with what it said in the series, that the Others went extinct.**

**Disclaimer: Parts of this are directly from The River of Wind, so I don't own them. In fact, the only thing I own is the humanoid character.**

**Chapter 5: A New Kingdom**

"Come in," Soren called to the knocker.

Otulissa pushed aside the flap and walked in. "Hello, Soren."

"Otulissa?" Soren was fairly surprised to see the Spotted Owl out of her hollow. "Did you finally figure out the ball?"

"Yes, I did."

_Then why isn't she talking about it?_ Soren wondered after a moment. He looked Otulissa over carefully, taking note of her slightly-wilfed feathers and unusually quiet attitude. She should have been doing the opposite, talking rapidly about all her new discoveries, the knowledge she had found, but instead, she seemed tense and worried. "What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly concerned.

"Nothing's wrong," Otulissa blustered for a moment as she tried to organize her thoughts so that she wouldn't let anything slip. She realigned her feathers and took a deep breath, preparing herself. "I received a letter from-" she lowered her voice "-Bess."

Soren blinked. No wonder she had seemed quiet. Bess, the Knower, as they called her, rarely contacted them, only doing so to convey astonishing news. "Oh, Glaux, what is it now?"

"It's not bad news – no, not at all." She hesitated. "It's just rather…mind-boggling." _Not any more so than the ball, though,_ she added silently. Thank Glaux she didn't say it out loud; darn her talkative nature!

Soren's eyes flickered with perplexity. "What is it?"

"It's rather unbelievable, really."

"It must be." Otulissa still hesitated. "Otulissa, what is it?"

Otulissa inhaled deeply. "Bess thinks there's a sixth owl kingdom," she said quickly.

Soren almost fell off his perch. "Whhhhaaaaat?"

"She thinks there's a sixth kingdom of owls," Otulissa repeated more slowly.

"She thinks? Does she know? Where? How?"

Otulissa shook her head. "I don't have a clear idea on how. But I think she knows."

Soren tried to retain at least a semblance of normalcy as he strengthened his grip on his perch. " You think or you know?"

"Know," Otulissa responded. "She didn't want to elaborate on it in the letter – even in code. I had to destroy it as soon as I read it, too, by her wishes. But she has evidence."

"Evidence? What kind of evidence?" Otulissa had been right. This was mind-boggling.

"Fragments of documents, apparently. Just let me recite the letter to you."

"At the back of the hollow," Soren said in a low voice, glancing around nervously, and Otulissa nodded in agreement as they walked into one of the corners.

Otulissa reiterated the letter for him twice.

"She thinks owls, not Others, wrote it? And more than one? How can she tell?"

Otulissa nodded, looking a little disgruntled. "She is very good at that sort of thing."

Soren nodded, satisfied. There was the Otulissa he knew, the one who hated admitting to not knowing anything. "Bess is good at a lot of things. She thinks that these owls might have been some sort of scholars trading in information the way Trader Mags trades in good?"

Otulissa was about to sniff haughtily and make a slight on Trader Mags and her business before simply nodding. After all, she would never have gotten the ball – animal – without trading with the magpie. Then again, maybe that would have been better. She wouldn't have been dealing with the stress of dealing with an animal that she didn't know how to take care of. It was made even harder by the fact that she had to keep it a secret, and Glaux knew where it was right now. She desperately hoped it was still in the jar, but it was alive and had the tendency to go wherever it wanted to, as shown by the last tweener's adventure. What if somebody saw it? What would they do? What would happen to it?

She came back to herself with a jolt when she clued into Soren's words. "…Curious idea, isn't it? Itinerant scholar owls," Soren said as he thought about the information.

"Well, it is strictly hypothetical. We have no way of knowing, and Bess did use a lot of conditional language to describe her findings and suppositions."

"Otulissa!" Soren said sharply. "Here's something that's not so hypothetical: we have documents written by these foreign owls in this land. Which entails that their temporary residence here is also not hypothetical."

Otulissa blinked. Soren was right. "Either way," she said, "that is not my question. My question is, are we going to find out more or not?"

"I can't answer that," Soren said, his black eyes sparkling, "but I can tell you that we need to tell the Band and Coryn."

Otulissa blinked again. "Coryn knows about Bess and the Palace of Mists?"

"Well…" Soren began a bit sheepishly. "Remember when we went on that trip before all that ember-worship nonsense? We were hollowed up with bad weather in Silverveil – you know how it's easy to get stuck there – and began telling stories to pass the time."

"And that's when you told Coryn," Otulissa concluded. "Good job keeping the secret," she added sarcastically.

Soren swelled a little. "He's our king, Otulissa. He has to know what's going on around him."

Otulissa ruffled her feathers again as a small amount of guilt pricked her gizzard. _What, not who_, she told herself. "All right, it makes sense that he should come. You're right. If there is a sixth kingdom…well, it's logical that our own king should know about it."

"Yes." Soren nodded. "I'm going to gather the rest of the Chaw of Chaws and take them to Coryn's hollow." He looked outside. "But not now; the night's almost over. Tomorrow at First Black. Meet you then?"

Otulissa nodded as she flew out. "You can count on it."

**Linebreak**

"Where are you?" Otulissa asked the next night in her own hollow. She had to tell the animal that she wouldn't be there, even though it didn't understand. She had to at least try, or it would just worry her even more than it already did. "Hello?"

An odd noise made her turn around and she finally spotted the creature, sitting on the ground beside the hollow's opening. It looked up at her and she made sure to look directly into its still-unnervingly green eyes as she spoke.

"I won't be here for a while," she informed it slowly. "There's a meeting I have to attend about the letter."

It blinked at her.

Otulissa sighed and pushed a saucer with some berries on it towards the animal. "I got you some of these in case you got hungry and there's water over there." She pointed at the jar, which she had just filled. "Stay here, okay?" She watched the animal with a measured look.

It gave her its funny smile before observing the berries, turning them over.

"I mean it," Otulissa warned, her worry increasing. _What did I do to deserve this?_ she asked Glaux silently as the little animal wrinkled its snout at her. It seemed almost…affronted by Otulissa's lack of faith in it before climbing into the jar of water and curling into its ball shape again, staying that way until Otulissa left the hollow, shaking her head. Of course it hadn't looked affronted. Her and her imagination.

**Linebreak**

"Do you want to begin?" Soren asked Otulissa, impatient to get started. Coryn and the rest of the Chaw of Chaws were even more impatient to hear why they had been called together for a meeting, and so early, too.

"No, you go ahead," Otulissa said.

Soren still hesitated. "I just don't know where to start."

"Just start somewhere!" Twilight barked in his gruff manner. "We've all got stuff to do."

_Where to begin?_ Soren asked himself. Well, first things first. Everyone had to know about the source, and Ruby and Martin didn't.

"There is this place, Ruby and Martin, that we discovered when we were youngsters. It is called the Palace of Mists," he began.

"The Palace of Mists?" Ruby asked, cocking her head.

Soren continued, explaining how they had promised Bess they would keep her home a secret, except for telling Otulissa, and ending with the letter. "You should probably take it from here," Soren told Otulissa.

"I committed the letter to memory," Otulissa told them, and recited it before them.

For a moment, there was complete and utter silence as everyone absorbed the information. Beaks were on the floor and wings were dangling at the owls' sides, completely yeep, before everyone started talking at once.

"A sixth kingdom?"

"So far?"

"How do we get there?"

"When do we go?"

"Do we tell the rest of the Tree?"

"What do we tell them?"

Otulissa listened closely to their reactions. It seemed like everyone wanted to further explore this phenomenon. Some thumps were heard throughout the hollow as they shifted and stomped their talons to make their points.

"Quiet!" Coryn ordered. "We have to take things in an orderly fashion." Despite his words, they could see Coryn's excitement. "Right now, it's not so much a question of when we leave, but how. Who would we leave in charge? Who should we tell? The parliament? And first off, let's decide whether we're going or not."

Otulissa nodded, trying to keep the action from looking too fervent. This was what she needed to know: what she was going to do with the animal in her hollow.

Digger stepped forward. "First, I think we have to fo to the Palace of Mists. Second, we must review the fragments and discuss all this with Bess. Finally, if indeed we decide to go on and seek the sixth kingdom across the Unnamed Sea – which in itself is a staggering thought – I think someone must know where we have gone. We also must tell that someone of Bess and the Palace of Mists – in case we do not return within one moon cycle."

Soren interjected, "If we do not return within a moon's cycle, there should be arrangements to send a contingent to the Palace of Mists." He paused for a moment and considered. "And I think Eglantine would be a good choice. Eglantine along with Primrose. I will speak with them about it."

"So it's decided we will at least look into it and go to the Palace of Mists to find out more before further deciding?" Everyone nodded. "All right, I think we've got the beginning of a plan. Midnight will be soon, and I know we're all very excited, but, please, not a word about this in the dining hollow. No one must know anything yet."

"Coryn's right," Otulissa spoke up. "Not a word to anyone. For Bess' safety and the sixth kingdom's."

**Linebreak**

Unfortunately for them, some people do not need words. Blind nestmaid snakes were well known for their astute senses, especially when it came to emotions, such as, oh, say, the nervousness of owls sitting _right beside them_. Mrs. Plithiver could tell at the meal that the entire Chaw of Chaws was wound up and agitated as she slithered in with the tea and mice bits, Otulissa in particular. If Otulissa was more nervous than the others, then she was probably keeping two secrets, the one the whole group was tense about plus her own.

But Mrs. Plithiver already knew Otulissa's nerve-racking relationship with the odd animal as its unappreciated and largely ignored protector, so she focused on the smaller one, the one that gave the entire table a feeling of excitement and the need to blather on about silly items to cover up their actual thoughts. _Very silly_, she thought as she listened to them talking about the current fashionable trends.

"Fancy. Cook's getting too fancy," Twilight was telling the others.

"It's what's in," Gylfie told him as she was eating her helping.

"But stuffed mouse? Why does a mouse have to be stuffed, and the bones served on the side with this honey dipping sauce?" Twilight pointed at it with a talon. "What happened to good old meat? Just plain, none of this complicated and time-consuming nonsense. You catch it, you cook it if you want, and you eat it."

"Yeah, I agree," Digger said. "Can you imagine what Ezylryb would say about this fancy fare?"

"Oh, he wouldn't permit it," Otulissa sighed. "We always had to eat our meat raw on the night of weather-interpretation or colliering flights." She shook her head. "He was very firm on that matter."

"What do you mean 'had to'?" Soren, the current leader of both chaws Otulissa mentioned, protested. "I still insist on it. He was right; raw meat is the best thing if you're about to fly in some crazy winds straight from hagsmire."

"Well, we better get back to raw mice if we're going to go to this –" Twilight began.

Otulissa pounced on his slip immediately and sent him a swift kick in his foot. "You are so indiscreet," she hissed to him.

"Indiscreet?" he hooted back. "I can be very well be discreet if I want!"

But Mrs. Plithiver wasn't listening anymore. The vibrations from Otulissa's kick had told it all: they were going somewhere, somewhere secret that no one else could know about. Her senses finally picked up what the overwhelming agitation was hiding, curiosity, apprehension, worry, excitement. She swung her head towards Otulissa, who was the one sending out the distressed waves like a beacon, and silently resolved to help her with this new development.

**Linebreak**

Soren stood flabbergasted in his hollow as Mrs. Plithiver told him in her direct, down-to-earth manner:

"I want to go."

Soren coughed. "I'm sorry?"

"I don't know exactly where we're going, but I want to go with you and the rest of the Chaw of Chaws," Mrs. Plithiver told him. This was going to be hard.

"What would make you think we're going somewhere, Mrs. P?" Soren asked as he shifted from foot to foot.

"Soren." Mrs. Plithiver slithered up to him and wound herself into a coil directly in front of him. "Do you really need to ask?"

"Not really," Soren sighed. "But you said you don't know where were going? Why do you want to come?"

Mrs. Plithiver struggled for a moment with her answer. "Well, Soren. Call it a feeling, but I sense something…deep…about this mission. Something extraordinary." And she really did. There was an air of suspenseful expectancy in the Tree that had been around for a few days. "You don't seem to know exactly what you're doing and what you'll find" – she had picked that up at the last meal, too – "and I believe that I can help you obtain a better understanding of what's happening."

Soren remained silent for a little while as he considered Mrs. Plithiver's words. It was true that Mrs. Plithiver was probably the most perceptible snake, if not being, in the entire Tree, and that she was very good at discovering little details that he and the others easily missed. She was right; her sensibilities would most definitely be helpful in this trip to gain a "better understanding." But would Bess be okay with it? She had suggested that the other members of the Chaw of Chaws learn about her. She hadn't suggested that they tell Mrs. Plithiver. Although, in all fairness, Bess didn't know about Mrs. Plithiver.

Mrs. Plithiver felt her breath catch as Soren spoke. "I agree with you; you would be a fantastic addition to our group. After all, you found out about our mission, and you're right: we don't really have a clear idea of what's going on. But at the same time, this is a secret."

"I'm very capable of keeping secrets," Mrs. Plithiver told him with a little reproof in her voice; he should know that!"

"I know, Mrs. P," Soren assured her, "I just don't know if…if…well, if she would be okay with us telling you." He preened his port wing feathers for a moment as he thought and Mrs. Plithiver wondered who 'she' was. "I think that since Otulissa got the letter, she should be the one to decide, or at least she should give her input," Soren finally said.

**Linebreak**

"No!" Otulissa cried when she saw what the pesky little animal was up to. When she had gotten back to her hollow, it had been standing in the middle of the floor, dripping wet and smiling slightly, looking fairly pleased. Now, it was observing the candles, leaning towards one of the flames so close that Otulissa was worried it would get burnt. "Don't touch it!"

It looked at her, back at the flame, then back at her again.

"It's hot," Otulissa explained slowly as she slowly walked over and reached out to the animal. "It will burn you. Come over here." It looked at her outstretched claw for a moment before completely ignoring it and jumping down.

In a flash, it was curled up in a ball again underneath her desk. Otulissa sighed with exasperation.

"Otulissa?"

She whipped around and faced Soren as he stuck his head in. "Are you busy?"

Otulissa gently shook herself, making her racing mind calm down as she told herself that the animal was out of sight, and not a moment too soon. Had it sensed Soren's approach and hid? "No, not really."

Soren looked at her strangely. "Okay." He paused. "Who were you talking to?"

"Talking?" Otulissa stammered.

"You shouted, 'No,' and then, 'Don't touch it.'"

"Oh, well, I was actually getting really frustrated. This ball, you know." She held the animal up, praying it wouldn't protest. Thankfully, it remained motionless.

Soren stared at her like she was yoicks, confusion swimming in his dark eyes. "I thought you said you had figured it out?"

"Well, only a part of it," Otulissa told him. "There are still many properties that I'm discovering as I go, but I did make a huge break-through so that now I am making rapid progress in the department of determining-"

"Um, Otulissa, I'm glad you're making progress, but I actually came here to ask you something," Soren interrupted her.

Otulissa gratefully ceased her empty babbling. "What was it?"

"It's about me, dear." Mrs. Plithiver slithered in and Otulissa relaxed more as she appeared. "I would like to go with you on your trip to the mainland."

Otulissa blinked several times. "You know about that?" _Then again, what doesn't she know?_

"Mrs. Plithiver learned about it when you kicked Twilight and she thinks that she would be helpful on this venture," Soren explained. "I agree," he added.

_No, not Mrs. Plithiver!_ Otulissa thought desperately. "Why do you think so?" she asked them, looking for a reason to have Mrs. Plithiver stay.

"I feel that something momentous is about to happen, that something…difficult for us to understand…is going to come," Mrs. Plithiver told her. "And I think that I can help."

"With what?" Otulissa questioned.

_Why wouldn't she want me to go?_ Mrs. Plithiver wondered.

"Mrs. Plithiver would add great insight to our team, Otulissa," Soren told her impatiently. "The only question I have is if Be-she would have a problem with us telling her."

"Well…no, I suppose she wouldn't…but…" Otulissa stuttered a little and tried to come up with a reason for Mrs. Plithiver to stay at the Tree. "Who are we going to tell about where we are?" she blurted out.

"Eglantine and Primrose, remember?" Soren answered easily.

Seeing no way out, Otulissa agreed. "I'll fill you in," she told Mrs. Plithiver, "and Soren, why don't you go tell Coryn?"

Soren nodded and walked out.

"So," Otulissa sighed. Mrs. Plithiver held back her questions and let her explain. "We're going to the Palace of Mists, a secret castle made by the Others that a Boreal Owl named Bess lives in. Bess is a scholar and spends her time studying the items in her home. Recently, she discovered a hidden alcove that had star maps made by owls, not Others, and they indicate that there is a sixth kingdom of owls."

Mrs. Plithiver remained silent, sensing the irritation, concern, and excitement of the Tree's scholar.

"Bess wants us to come so she can explain the situation more fully to us, and depending on what we learn, we will decide whether to carry on and go fly to the new kingdom or to ignore the maps – at least for now."

Mrs. Plithiver thought for a moment. "Why don't you want me to come?" she asked.

Otulissa jumped. "I do want you to come-"

"No, Otulissa, dear, don't tell me that," she said, shaking her head. "What is it?"

Otulissa sighed again. "If I'm leaving, and you're leaving, what will happen to the animal?" She looked at its uncurled form sitting on her desk and quickly averted her eyes from its gaze.

_That is a problem_, Mrs. Plithiver realized as Otulissa's worried waves increased and filled the hollow. A few seemed to come from the animal as well. _She's right; I would have helped much more if I had just stayed._ "I could still stay," she offered.

Otulissa shook her head. "No, now that you know the whole situation and Soren went to tell Coryn, it'll look odd if you suddenly turn around and stay."

"How long will we be gone?" Mrs. Plithiver asked.

Otulissa shrugged. "Maybe a few days?"

"Can you leave some food and water for it?"

Otulissa considered the possibility. "I could…do you think it would hold up?"

"The water probably would. I'm not sure about the berries. How often does it have to eat?"

"I'm not sure about that either," Otulissa admitted. They looked at the creature, who made a face back.

"It doesn't seem to be hungry now," Mrs. Plithiver observed. "When was the last time it ate?"

"A little over a day ago," Otulissa said. "So it would only need to eat twice, you think?"

"Probably," Mrs. Plithiver said, still watching the anxious animal. Why it was anxious she didn't know. All she knew was that it was as she slithered back to the nestmaids' hollow and left Otulissa to try to handle the foreign resident.

"Watch out!" she heard as she slithered away. A screech followed and then a few splashes. "And that's why you don't touch hot wax!" _I can see why she was worried._

**Linebreak**

"Mrs. P? You have got to be kidding me. Are you yoicks?" Twilight asked Soren.

"She knew all about it?" Digger asked, slightly dismayed.

"Apparently, when Otulissa kicked Twilight, it all fell together," Soren answered.

"That'll show her to kick me," Twilight muttered.

"Well she probably wouldn't have kicked you if you hadn't almost blurted out the whole thing," Gylfie told him.

"That's no excuse!"

"Stop arguing," Coryn said. Great Glaux, the Band acted like little owlets sometimes. And they were supposed to be mature! "What do you think about her coming?"

"I think she would be very good to have," Soren told them. "Mrs. P is very good at catching on things that we easily miss, and this gives her a different and valuable viewpoint. Otulissa thinks so, too."

"I don't mind her going to the Palace of Mists." Gylfie said. "I agree with Soren."

Twilight nodded his approval.

"Digger?" Coryn asked.

Digger was silent for a long time before speaking. "I'm not sure. If she goes to the Palace of Mists and we decide to go on, will she go to the Middle Kingdom with us, too?" He thought for a moment again. "But it is interesting. I mean, Gylfie, you're our navigator. Twilight has his fighting skills and Soren and Otulissa have excellent colliering and weather skills, as do Ruby and Martin. Coryn, you're the decision maker. But we seem to be missing the insightful analysis that Mrs. Plithiver can give, as Soren said."

"That would be you, Digger," Twilight sighed.

Digger shook his head. "Okay, but it's always good to have varying viewpoints. Once again, Mrs. Plithiver picks up hints and clues that we can't see if we wanted to, although 'see' isn't a very good word. I think she should come so that we can have a better – arsenal. We'll be more prepared, all the tricks in the arsenal, if you will."

Everyone blinked at this. Digger was right; Mrs. Plithiver had something that none of them could supply, and this made her helpful in their mission.

And so it was decided that Mrs. Plithiver would be coming with Coryn and the Chaw of Chaws.

**Linebreak**

"Stay here," Otulissa reiterated firmly to the animal.

It rolled its eyes…somehow. It didn't actually move its head, but its irises still made that circular motion that owls did with their own eyes. It was weird, and kind of creepy. Otulissa couldn't really imagine looking anywhere without turning her head to face it, but this animal achieved it as if it was only natural. Which it probably was to it.

Either way, the animal had to stay in her hollow. "Here's some food, and I refilled the jar. I'll be back in three days." She held up three talons to make her point.

"Otulissa?" Ruby's voice drifted over to her.

"Coming!"

"Stay," she whispered again to it before flying out and joining the rest of the party on one of the highest branches of the Tree. Mrs. Plithiver was on Soren's back and Twilight, Digger, and Ruby carried their supplies, such as battle claws, a few coals, etc.

"Everyone here?" Coryn asked, turning his head this way and that and raising his voice a little to be heard.

Otulissa looked around, feeling her gizzard tremble in excitement – and dread. What would happen while they were gone? The last time Coryn had left, the Tree had succumbed to ember worship and had its Golden period. This time, he was leaving with the entire Chaw of Chaws _and_ there was an unknown creature hiding inside it.

_That is going to completely ruin this trip for me_, she thought as they lifted off at Coryns command and winged their way over the ocean with, in her case, frequent glances back towards the direction of the Tree. _I just know it._

**Wow, longest chapter yet! I hope I didn't bore you.**

**YAY! I am excited for the next chapter…very excited…**


	6. The Answer

**Hope you like…**

**Disclaimer: Parts of this are directly from The River of Wind, so I don't own them. In fact, the only thing I own is the humanoid character.**

**Chapter 6: The Answer**

"How would one be able to cross the Unnamed Sea anyway?"Gylfie asked as they flew towards the Palace of Mists.

"Well that's one of things were planning to find out," Twilight replied as he looked around for any signs of the Pure Ones.

"The owls from the sixth kingdom probably found it pretty easy if they did it," Digger considered thoughtfully. "Sometime in the past, they came to our side of the sea. Our ancestors had no knowledge of their presence, much less on how to get to and from there. Therefore, I would say that they were, and probably still are, much more advanced than we are."

Nobody liked that idea much.

Otulissa was the most displeased with it. She hated feeling…inferior. "Think of what they could teach us!" she pondered.

Soren suddenly snapped his head to their port side.

"Soren?" Otulissa asked, some of her worry surfacing.

"Shhh," he shushed them. _What was that?_ he wondered as he tried to triangulate the snapping sound he had heard, but after a few moments, he gave up. It had been so sudden, so quiet, and he couldn't hear anything else like it now. "I thought I heard something. Did you hear it, Coryn?"

Coryn shook his head. "Are you sure?"

Soren nodded. "It sounded like something broke. It could have been a falling twig, though."

"Just stay alert," Coryn told him with a quick glance around.

Soren nodded and they continued on their way, the conversation picking up once again. Soren paid no attention to it, instead listening intently to their surroundings. They didn't want to be ambushed by the Pure Ones.

A sudden flash of movement drew his attention to their left again, but it was so quick, like the sound, that he wasn't sure that he had seen it. He looked around them more closely as well, but there was nothing to see except the tall pine trees of the Shadow Forest, the way their needles waved in the wind, how they revealed the brown bark beneath-

There! There was nothing there anymore, but he had seen something move.

"Soren?" Soren looked up, startled, to see the rest of the Chaw of Chaws, Coryn, and Mrs. Plithiver all looking at him.

"I just saw a squirrel," he assured them. Then he frowned. "I think."

"You think?" Otulissa asked him, one eye tuft raised. "Do you know?"

"I'm not sure," Soren admitted. "But it was small, brown, and very, _very_ fast, too fast for me to see much. Either way, it wasn't a Pure One, or even any type of owl."

Everyone relaxed at his words – except for Otulissa. _Small, brown, and fast. Squirrels do match that description, but I can think of something else, too._ Her thoughts turned to the animal that was currently in her hollow at the Great Tree – she hoped.

Mrs. Plithiver sensed Otulissa's concern and knew immediately it had to do with the animal. "Digger, dear, why don't I travel with Otulissa?" she asked tactfully.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Plithiver," Digger assured her. Actually, being a weaker flier than the others, he wasn't doing that well, but he could definitely handle it.

"I'm sure," Mrs. Plithiver said dryly. "But I think it would be best if you had a little rest and I went with someone else for a while."

"If you say so," Digger agreed, trying to keep the gratefulness out of his voice as he touched wingtips with Otulissa and felt Mrs. Plithiver slither off, relieving himself of her small weight.

"Mrs. Plithiver?" Otulissa asked after the transition was complete and they had returned to their original, spaced-out positions.

"I thought you might like some…reassurance," Mrs. Plithiver said. "What made you think Soren saw the animal?"

Otulissa blinked. "How did you know that?"

Mrs. Plithiver sighed. "Do you need to ask me that?"

Otulissa thought back to her worry when Soren had described what he had seen and Mrs. Plithiver's perceptive abilities. "Not really."

"Otulissa, it can't possibly be the animal. You left it in your hollow, right?"

"Yes. But it easily leaves," Otulissa replied, her worry magnifying.

"The hollow, yes. But how would it be able to leave the island, or even the Tree?" Mrs. Plithiver asked.

"It could have climbed down the tree, and it appears to be a good swimmer."

"I highly doubt it could have swum across half an ocean, and with strong currents, too," Mrs. Plithiver said. "You're ideas have a lot of 'ifs.'"

"They're possible though," Otulissa fretted.

"But not probable," Mrs. Plithiver corrected her. "And you told it to stay, right?"

Otulissa almost snorted before she remembered that they had to be quiet and not show any signs of having an independent conversation lest someone asked what it was about. "Not like that would do much good."

"I think you're underestimating its intelligence, Otulissa," Mrs. Plithiver told her gently.

"Possible." _But I doubt it_, Otulissa thought privately. "I just hope it doesn't do anything that could cause it to be discovered, or worse – injured. Remember right before we left?"

"Yes. You were saying something about wax?" Mrs. Plithiver questioned.

"It touched the hot wax of the candle."

"At least it wasn't the flame itself," Mrs. Plithiver reasoned.

"True. But I am really looking forward to being able to keep a close ear on that animal after this trip. It is very nerve-wracking." Otulissa nearly huffed.

"Don't worry about it," Mrs. Plithiver soothed. "It is very good at hiding, and is smart enough to do so."

"I hope you're right," Otulissa replied, shaking her head slightly. "I really hope you're right."

**Tellmehowtomakealinebreak**

"Ugh!" Ruby shivered in the hollow, looking out to see the cold shadows of the pine trees as the sun came out. "I have to say that I am not fond of the Shadow Forest."

"I am rather disillusioned with it myself right now," Gylfie agreed, puffing up her plumage to retain some of her warmth. Brrr.

"Come here, Little Owl With Big Words," Twilight said, extending a wing. "You too, Ruby."

"What? No name for me?" Ruby huffed in mock indignance as she put the enormous wing between herself and the hollow's opening.

"Of course you have a name, O Complaining One," Twilight grinned. "Anyone else? I could bring out my poetry skills."

"Pass," Soren said with Digger and Martin nodding in agreement. "I'm going to go catch something for a meal. Anyone else?"

"No way!" Martin shuddered as he ran behind Twilight's wing too. "Sorry, Soren, but I'll put up with the hunger if I can get rid of the cold. Thank Glaux we're going to be at the Palace of Mists tomorrow; I bet it's warmer."

"I'll go find some moss," Otulissa offered.

"Don't stay away too long," Mrs. Plithiver told her. Otulissa wilfed slightly, suddenly uncomfortable. She would bet her books that Mrs. Plithiver was onto her real intentions.

"I won't," she assured her.

"Let's go," Soren said, flying out the opening. Otulissa followed, but almost immediately peeled off in the direction of a lower section of branches. Now to just make sure the supposed 'squirrel' hadn't followed them. She'd look for moss during her search as well, and she'd have to set a time limit that she would be satisfied with as proof that the animal wasn't around.

Starting in the lower part of the forest that was closer to the ground, Otulissa began collecting moss, keeping a sharp ear and eye out for any sign of the animal with her thoughts turning towards what Soren had said. Was the animal a squirrel? It had the coloring, size, and speed Soren had described. On the other claw, it looked entirely different: its fur was only on the back of its head and it had no tail or claws to speak of. And it didn't really sound like a squirrel either; if she had to compare the sounds the animal made, she'd have to say that they generally sounded more like a wolf's voice than anything else, although the screech it had emitted when it had nearly burned itself could more than pass as an owl. Actually, the sound was most like the one she was hearing behind her right now.

Otulissa turned around and froze when she saw the animal standing firmly on its hind legs on the branch she was perched on, its forepaws holding out some moss, its odd smile on its face. She drew in a breath to say _something_ (probably along the lines of, 'whareidtlkwn') when she looked away from it and spotted a Barn Owl coming close, his eyes locked on the animal below him. "NO!"

Soren's talons were open, ready to snatch the squirrel whose heartbeat he had heard when he had been flying near the tops of the trees. He swooped down, intending to grab it and give it a quick death when _it_ _suddenly disappeared_.

"What in-" he barely managed to shriek in shock before half-landing-half-crashing on the branch in front of a Spotted Owl – Otulissa. "Otulissa?"

"I can explain!" she exclaimed hurriedly.

"What are you doing here? What was that? Where'd it go?" Soren took a deep breath. "And what are you going to explain?"

Otulissa wilfed abruptly. "You didn't see it?"

"What was I supposed to see?" Soren asked.

"Nothing."

"Otulissa…"

Otulissa remained silent.

The animal, however, did not. With a curious, throaty sound, it peeked around Otulissa and looked directly into Soren's eyes.

Soren gasped as those startlingly green eyes seemed to gaze directly into his soul. "What is that?" he asked again, quieter this time.

Otulissa looked down at it before moving to the side and fully revealing the alien animal. "I don't know," she admitted, speaking just as softly as Soren was. "Nothing I've ever seen."

"Nothing anyone's ever seen," Soren added, unable to break eye contact until the creature blinked. "How do you know it?" he asked as he began sizing it up, noting its strange physique.

"Do you remember the ball I got from Trader Mags?"

"How could I not? What about it?" _How in Glaux's name is that relevant?_ he wondered.

"This animal was the ball."

"What?" He seemed to be asking that a lot.

Almost like a demonstration, the animal curled up and within moments, Soren was looking down at the familiar form of Otulissa's ball, completely flabbergasted. "How does it do that?" he wondered.

"Its physiology and anatomy is very different from ours," Otulissa began.

"Otulissa."

"Right. In short, I don't know. I don't know what it is or what it can do-"

"Is it dangerous?"

Soren's question surprised Otulissa; she had never thought of it hurting her. After a moment, she answered, "Mrs. Plithiver says no."

"Then that's good enough for me." Soren went back to observing it.

Otulissa emitted a soft churr. "Then again, Mrs. Plithiver also said it was aware."

Soren hesitantly met its eyes again. "I actually don't have that much trouble believing that," he said. Those eyes were odd. Ignorant, yet full of something indefinable, things he couldn't begin to name.

"It can't speak, it can't understand us, it doesn't show much intelligence," Otulissa ticked off.

"Then what's it doing now?" Soren asked.

"What?"

Both owls stared as the animal struck a pose that practically shouted denial. But it still didn't speak.

"Why did you hide it?" Soren asked, breaking the silence.

Otulissa thought through her answer carefully. "Not all owls and snakes are as understanding and thoughtful as you and Mrs. Plithiver, Soren. How do you think people would react to it?"

They turned back to the animal as Soren considered her words. She was right. After the events of the Tree's Golden Age, he wasn't comfortable with introducing new things to even the Guardians. Who knew what they would do, what they would do to the animal.

This time Otulissa interrupted the quiet. "Yet another question to add to my too-long list: how did it get here? How did it follow us?"

"Follow us?" Soren asked, frowning.

"I left it in my hollow – with the berries and the jar of water you saw."

"So that was what they were for!" Soren realized.

"Yes. I didn't bring it, no one else except Mrs. Plithiver and now you know about it. So how is it here?" Otulissa said, frustrated.

"Maybe it swam," Soren suggested.

"I told Mrs. Plithiver it might, because it seems skilled in the water," Otulissa admitted. "But something doesn't add up. It's a land animal, clearly. No land animal could swim across an entire sea while keeping owls flying high above it in sight, especially through all the mist around the Island."

"But like you said, it's no animal we know," Soren pointed out. "So it could be possible for this one."

Otulissa made an indecisive sound as she looked over the animal standing before them, still holding the moss. It was looking back and forth between them, its fur waving slightly in the cold breeze… "Either way, you need to find something to eat and we need to get back. I just ask that you keep it a secret – for now."

"Will we tell Coryn?" Soren asked as they lifted off.

"No! Like I said, no one for now, not even him."

"He needs to know," Soren protested.

Otulissa hesitated. "And when we're ready, he'll be the first to know." She turned back around to the animal. "Stay out of sight," she told it with a resigned air, knowing it would do no good.

Soren almost laughed at the 'duh' look the animal gave her.

**Tellmehowtomakealinebreak**

"There it is!" Twilight hooted triumphantly. Soren smiled at the sound of Martin, Ruby, and Coryn's awe-filled gasps.

It was truly a magnificent sight.

The white mist blended into the forms of four beautiful stone spires that reached up into the night sky from a grand castle. It was in ruins, overgrown with greenery in many places, but still intact enough that anyone could imagine how it had looked in its former glory. All its stones fit together perfectly, tucking the entire palace behind the waterfall that fell into a tranquil, misty, wide river. A sparkling splash sounded beneath them, but no one tore their eyes from the beauty of the scene before them.

"This way!" Gylfie called to them, leading them into the mist and flying through the stone structure, past vast rooms and gardens and into a huge library. The Chaw of Chaws, Coryn, and Mrs. Plilthiver landed on one of the sides of the great room.

"Bess?"

A Boreal Owl emerged from behind a stack of books and flew up to meet them. "Hello!" she chimed. "It's good to see you again. And nice to meet everyone else." She turned her smile to the new-timers.

After hellos and introductions, everyone crowded around the table Bess had been working at. Stacks of books towered around them as they paid rapt attention to the scholar.

"So you explained to them?" Bess asked Otulissa.

"Well, as best I could," Otulissa replied. "We're all fuzzy about the details."

"I have found more document fragments. It's all quite amazing. And unfortunately, not here. I'll go fetch them." She flew to the stone stacks toward the rear of the library that had many deep niches full of scrolls and books. I'll go fetch them." She flew to the stone stacks toward the rear of the library that had many deep niches full of scrolls and books as the others looked around the majestic room.

Otulissa was perhaps the most appreciative, besides Bess, of course. Huge volumes full of centuries worth of knowledge were surrounding them, created by Others and owls. Truly-

Otulissa barely managed to swallow a surprised gasp when she saw the now-familiar head looking down at them from one of surrounding stacks of books. _Go_, she told it silently, trying to get the message across using her eyes alone. The others were talking about the cold draft and the weather that was swirling around the palace, unaware of the unknown animal above them. She nudged Soren gently, grabbing his attention and quickly jerking her head upward.

Soren looked up and felt his eyes widen when he saw the animal. "What's it doing here?" he murmured.

"Following us too close for comfort," Otulissa replied, obviously ruffled. She gained Mrs. Plithiver's attention. "Any ideas?"

Mrs. Plithiver thoughtfully considered the animal that was observing them. Curiosity seemed to be its dominant emotion at the moment. With a clear meaning, she nodded her head in a direction away from the group of owls, feeling its waves of annoyance grow fainter as it moved away.

"Thank you!" Otulissa whispered fervently to her.

"I can see why you're so worried," Soren murmured to Otulissa.

Otulissa didn't get the chance to make a reply as Bess winged her way back over to them. She was carrying a botkin stuffed with fragments of old scrolls and carefully took them out of their oiled mouse-skin covers.

"For all this time, we have known that there was this place that we called The Elsewhere," Soren said. "But never before had we imagined that there was a kingdom of owls there. We thought perhaps it was a place the Others had been, but never owls. Whatever led you to think that there were owls there, Bess?"

"This was my first clue," Bess said, pointing out a specific fragment. At first, it looked like a small bit that had been torn from one of the star charts because there were constellations sketched on it. Bess took out a magnifying glass from a pouch made of vole skin. This instrument always fascinated the Band. It was a tool of the Others, and Bess used it to read the dim handwriting on the most ancient of manuscripts. She set the glass down on the torn piece of parchment. "Now look. Tell me, what do you see?"

The owls peered over the glass and then all gasped.

"An owls' eye!" Twilight said.

"B-b-b-but…but…" Otulissa stammered. "That proves nothing; an Other could have drawn that."

"Yes, possibly," Bess agreed. "Although I feel-"

She was cut off by Soren. "Uh, Bess?"

Bess looked at him, puzzled. "What?"

"Does anyone hear those…well, I'm not sure what they are, but they sound like something thumping." He listened a little more. "Constantly and consistently." He tilted his head this way and that.

"I hear it, too!" Coryn exclaimed before frowning. "What is that?"

"Thumping?" Bess asked, copying his frown. "I've never heard any thumping."

"Really?" Soren asked, still trying to find where the source of the annoying pulse was coming from.

"Can you show us where it is?" Gylfie suggested.

Soren nodded, looking askance at Bess. "I don't know my way around this place, but I can tell you it's coming from below us."

"This way." Puzzled, Bess led the group around a column and down a tunnel to another level. "Do you still hear it?"

"Yes, but it's still below us."

"Well, then. Tell me when it's not below us anymore," Bess instructed the Barn Owls.

They continued, going down numerous tunnels, into lower levels, until Gylfie suddenly stopped. "Wait, I hear it, too!"

Everyone's heads swiveled towards her. "Lower?" Bess asked. Silently, all three listeners nodded.

"I think I can make it out," Digger said as they went further down. "Anyone else?"

"Wow, that is annoying," Ruby commented. "But what's that high pitch above it?"

"It almost sounds like a harp," Otulissa said, her eyes narrowed. "Except it sounds…different. Brighter, more…I actually don't know." For one of the few times in her life, she didn't know the words to describe something.

Bess suddenly stopped. "I've never gone lower than this before," she informed them.

"Why not?" Martin piped up.

"It's just so far away," she replied softly. The dark room lay in silence, far beneath the top of the palace where they had been only a few moments before.

"You don't have to go down Bess," Digger said gently.

"No. But I will." Bess puffed her feathers up slightly. "I want to know what's going on in my home."

"To the right!" Soren ordered abruptly.

Carefully, with Bess still in the lead, the owls and snake made their way across the room and landed on a ledge as they stared down on a scene in disbelief.

Light was flooding the area below them, coming from no source they could identify. There were no candles, nothing at all familiar except for books, but even these were strange. Their covers were shiny and colorful, completely different from what they had found higher up.

But what really had everyone's beaks and lower jaws hanging uselessly on the floor, even Otulissa's, Mrs. Plithiver's, and Soren's, was the odd creature that was moving strangely in an open area, nodding its head – they thought – to the thumps and putting on an amazing display of – well, it looked a little like dancing, although it was the strangest dancing Otulissa had ever seen. But it had to be dancing. What type of animal would move like that naturally?

"What is that?" Twilight asked quietly.

Otulissa opened her beak to answer, unsure of what to say, when Digger beat her to it. "I think," he began slowly, his eyes never leaving the animal, "it's an Other."

Everyone's attention returned to the animal below when it froze and peered up at them. It breathed out heavily before sucking in a deep breath and emitting something that sounded remarkably like, 'Hahahaha, hihi, iiih, haha, oh!'

It took them a moment to realize that it was laughing. At them. At Digger's statement.

"Then what are you?" Digger asked, hopping a bit closer as he looked down at it with an intensity to match its former gaze.

The animal stood up again, its mirth subsiding although a smile stayed on its face.

"I am an Atlantean."

**Yeah, the laughter is a bit odd, but I tried it (cause I'm weird) and that's what it sounds like. Let's see you do it!**

**Good night **


	7. The Culture Clash

**Well, now that my other stories are taken care of, let's see how well I can crank out these chapters!**

**Disclaimer: I can finally actually name the 'humanoid character' and say that I only own the Atlantean. **

**Chapter 7: The Culture Clash**

"You know, from Atlantis? The Lost Civilization? The Island that sank under the Sea?"

Silence met it. Until.

"No," Twilight replied bluntly. "Never heard of it." His yellow gaze narrowed with distrust.

"Bess?" Soren asked quietly.

The Boreal Owl mutely shook her head to the negative.

After another wait for someone to speak up and say, 'just kidding! Of course we know about Atlantis!' the Atlantean sighed, letting its forelimbs fall loosely along its sides. This wasn't good.

Otulissa stared down at the animal that – who – had just blown all her theories on it clear out of the air with its talki-

"Hey! Why didn't you talk before?"

"What?" chorused several voices as all eyes fixated on her. Otulissa's plumage ruffled as she shifted uncomfortably, only now realizing that she had just blown it.

"You knew about this…uh…Atlantean before now?" Coryn asked her, an unidentifiable spark in his eyes.

Otulissa looked down at it. "Yes."

"I did as well, Coryn," Soren spoke up, not about to make Otulissa take all the blame.

"As did I," Mrs. Plithiver added.

"Why wasn't I told?" he asked quietly.

None of them could look him straight in the eyes.

"We…I didn't want everyone to find out," Otulissa said slowly. "Who knows what could have happened to … the Atlantean if that happened? Especially after the Golden Age."

"But I'm not 'everyone,'" Coryn replied.

Surprisingly, the Atlantean stepped forward and joined in. "I think the major reason I stayed unknown is that I'm so different and…" It paused for a moment before continuing. "Alin? Is that how you say it?" It looked askance at Otulissa.

"…Alien," she replied numbly.

It nodded. "Alien. I'm different and alien to just about everything and everyone around here. People generally have bad and, um, violent reactions to unknown things, so the less discussion about me, one of the, if not the most, alien things in the Tree, the better. You tried to prevent everyone from knowing about me, right?" it asked Otulissa.

"Yes. I did." Otulissa could hardly believe it. This what-she-had-previously-thought-of-as-an-unaware and-unintelligent being had defended her. Made a case for her. A good, consideration-worthy case.

"Otulissa realized that people were, and are, not ready to know about me yet; I don't think she was even ready to know," it said with a strange smile. "Therefore, no one could know about me and the risk of an eavesdropper finding out, whether intentionally or not, was too great."

"We have secure places in the tree," Coryn protested, feeling slightly humbled by this new creature's speech.

It snorted informally. "Oh, sure, secure. It's not like I could hear every word you were saying in the Parliament about this trip. From outside the … hollow."

Otulissa blinked. Sarcasm?

"Seriously, I could hear it as if someone was announcing it through a horn."

Everyone blinked at that odd comparison, staying silent.

The Atlantean had adopted a pensive pose (Otulissa thought, at least), and when no one said anything else, it began asking the questions. "So…where is this place exactly?"

"In the Shadow Forest," Bess answered immediately.

"…Which is?"

"What do you mean?"

"Where's the Shadow Forest?"

"Between Silverveil and Beyond the Beyond."

She got a blank look. "You wouldn't happen to have a map, would you?"

"Yes. It is further up." Bess led the way and couldn't help but think that this little Atlantean was clearly very, very lost.

Otulissa looked down, noticing that it was keeping up quite easily as the owls flew up level by level. Okay, this had to stop. Now that she knew the animal was sentient, it just felt wrong for her to call _ an 'it.' Breaking off from the group, she floated down and kept as close to the ground as she could.

"What-" no, asking what gender it was would just be awkward.

"Yes?" The lines of thin fur over its eyes, kind of like eye-tufts, were raised, showing that it was paying attention (which would have been rather nice earlier when Otulissa had tried multiple times to tell it, AHH, _ something).

Then again, it was sentient, so she would probably be able to tell by the name. "What's your name?"

"My name? Ummm…probably not something you could pronounce, sorry."

"But then what should we call you?" Otulissa protested, a need to know the Atlantean's name burning within her.

"What, 'hey you!' doesn't work? Awww," it, NO, _ teased her.

Yep, same as ever. The Atlantean had been sentient all along.

"Well," the Atlantean thought out loud, breaking into Otulissa's thought process. "I guess you can just call me by my nickname around here, if I remember it…"

"What?" Otulissa gasped, surprised and a little worried for the Atlantean. "You can't remember your name?"

"Of course I can remember my name! It's-" And here it made a sort-of growling noise that once again reminded Otulissa of the wolves in the neighboring Beyond the Beyond.

"You're right. I highly doubt I'll ever be able to pronounce that," Otulissa agreed.

"Translated, it would be 'Kidakukashmatik,'" – Otulissa nearly wilfed at the idea of trying to say that – "but if I remember correctly, people couldn't exactly pronounce that easily, either. So they usually just called me Kida." (A/N: yes, I did get the name from Disney's Atlantis, which I don't own either.)

"Kida," Otulissa repeated. A nod and a smile confirmed it. _Ends with an 'a,' so the Atlantean is probably a girl. No, _Kida_ is probably a girl_.

"I think I pronounced your name right," Kida said conversationally.

"You did," Otulissa assured her, still feeling somewhat like the Atlantean's guardian. "Speaking of which, why didn't you talk earlier?"

"Well, your dialect is different from the one I'm used to, so it took me a little bit to make the connections and … modifications to the Hooligan I know. I'm still learning, but for the most part things seem to be the same."

"It doesn't seem to take you long," Otulissa encouraged.

"Well, no, it's not like I'm learning Mandarin or something."

"Mandarin?"

"You might know it as Chinese."

"No. I also can't think of any words congruous to that."

The Atlantean frowned suddenly. "Does China ring any bells?"

"No," Otulissa shook her head.

"Really?"

"Here it is!" Bess declared, unrolling a considerably large map. "This is where we are…"

But the Atlantean was not paying any attention to that. Her eyes were wide as she looked down at the world.

"This is the world?"

"Yes," Bess answered, puzzled.

"What's Beyond the Beyond?" The Atlantean drew a line along the region's edge.

"Few have traveled there, or at least, few from around here, but I read that it was mostly just hot and full of more volcanoes."

"Volcanoes."

"Yes, they're-"

The Atlantean waved off the explanation. "Yes, yes, I know what they are." Bess watched the Atlantean's eyes dart quickly around the map.

"Kida?" Otulissa asked softly after a moment. "What are you looking for?"

The reply was hesitant. "Anything. I can't recognize anything here. The St. Aegolius Canyons could pass for the Grand Canyon, I suppose, which is in Arizona, but then the Desert of Kuneer would be right beside it and way bigger. And how can the Beyond the Beyond, which you described as hot and full of volcanic activity, be…near the north? And where are the oceans?"

Bess was confused. "Oceans?"

"Yeah, like the Pacific and the Atlantic?"

"There might be something in the Others' maps that you might recognize," Bess offered.

"Can I see?"

Bess promptly rolled out a map of the Others beside the owl one. "Does this help?"

The Atlantean's frown only deepened. "Ummm…not really. When was this map made?" Bending over, she examined the corner before standing upright and crossing her forelegs again. "1397? That's not good. And it was made by some Europeans, too, apparently."

Now both Bess and Otulissa were baffled, and that was saying something. Otulissa opened her beak to ask what in the Southern Kingdoms Kida was talking about, but before she could get out a sound, said Atlantean asked a question that would shatter the owls' world.

"Can you tell me the date?" the Atlantean enquired.

"I'm sorry?" Otulissa gaped.

"What year is it?"

"What do you mean?"

Kida met her eyes. "You mean you don't number the years anymore?"

Twilight had had just about all he could take. "Look kid, we don't have any idea what you're going on about. So whenever you want to start making sense-"

"Twilight!" Gylfie admonished before turning to the thankfully un-offended Atlantean. "Could you explain what you mean by 'the date?'"

"Uuuhhh…dates measure time. Each sun cycle is a day, there are seven days in a week, about four weeks in a month, and twelve months in a year. The date, when said in English, is-"

"Woah, wait, English?" Twilight interrupted.

"It's a language," the Atlantean explained, looking faintly surprised. "Anyway, for example, I…fell asleep…on October seventh, two thousand eleven. That's the month, day of the month, and year. Let's pretend that three days passed: then it would be October tenth, two thousand eleven. October has thirty one days, so if four weeks passed, then the date would be November, which is the next month, fourth, two thousand eleven. And if a year had passed then it would be October seventh, two thousand and twelve."

"We don't have anything like that," Digger said when no one else responded, stepping forward a little.

"It's a standard thing," the Atlantean said, still frowning.

"Not here,…" Gylfie hesitated.

"Kida."

"Not here, Kida."

"No, Kida's right, it was a standard measurement here," Bess informed them as she paged through a book. "It was from the Others."

"Which you said are extinct," the Atlantean stated as everyone crowded around the book Bess was holding open.

"Which are extinct," Bess confirmed. "See, I translated the word 'October,' which shows up all along this page on the left side and there are a series of numbers right beside it."

"It's a German record-keeping book," the Atlantean said after a moment's observation.

"What?" Bess blinked.

"The dates on the left side tell what day it is and then the writing to their right lists the activities of the day, or so I would assume. I don't really speak or read German, but I do know that the word on the top of the page means 'Activities.'"

"You've mentioned German, English, and Mandarin," Otulissa said, stumbling a little over the unfamiliar words. "What are they?"

The Atlantean's head snapped up at this. "They're all languages. How can you not know this?"

"How can you not know what the world looks like?" Twilight returned.

"Of course I know what the world looks like!" the Atlantean almost snapped back. She grabbed a piece of parchment. "May I use your quill?" she asked Bess.

"Be my guest." Bess wanted to know what the Atlantean thought the world looked like.

"Alright. Look." Using the quill as a pointer, Kida named what she had drawn. "North America and South America on the left, cross the Atlantic ocean to Europe and Africa. Asia is the other half of the Eurasian land mass, which is this continent, and then Australia is the little continent over here. Cross the Pacific Ocean, and you get back to the Americas. Here's Antarctica and the Arctic Pole is in the north."

"Wait, how can you reach the A-"

"Americas."

"The Americas by crossing this ocean?" Martin pointed at what Kida had labeled as the 'Pacific.'

The Atlantean looked at Martin in disbelief, but all the owls could see a hint of desperation in her eyes. "The Earth is round."

"What?"

"Racdrops!" Twilight proclaimed.

The Atlantean slapped her face. "If I didn't know better, I'd say I'm in the Medieval Ages," she muttered.

"What?" all the owls repeated.

"How long have hum- Others been extinct?" the Atlantean demanded.

"Centuries," Twilight answered promptly.

"…Excuse me." And with that, Kida walked over to a wall and sank down against it, burying her head in her legs.

All the owls exchanged glances, unsure of what to make of this.

"If we're going to make any sense of this, then we're going to need to gather what we know," Digger suggested, ever the sensible one. "Kida is an Atlantean who 'fell asleep'" – he emphasized this phrase – "on a certain day."

"Then she woke up when I dropped her in water," Otulissa stated numbly. "She was the ball I acquired from Trader Mags."

"She thought the Others were alive," Twilight said.

"And she has many of the mannerisms of the Others, apparently," Gylfie noted. "She wears cloth and she measures time using 'dates.'"

"Is that it?" Soren asked thoughtfully. "That's all we know?"

"She clearly has no idea where she is," Twilight snorted.

"Continental drift."

Everyone turned to see Kida standing beside them, almost in their midst. The silent spectator looked away. "I think I know what happened." Mrs. Plithiver could practically taste the confused jumble of sadness, disappointment, and worry, so much that she settled herself right beside the muddled being, opposite Otulissa, who was on Kida's left.

Kida took a deep breath. "I didn't exactly fall asleep. I'm pretty sure that you at least suspected that –" she nodded towards Digger "- and I also can't tell you exactly what happened, but I can say that we Atlanteans, as I said before, live under the sea. Half our city is underwater, or at least, it was the last time I was there." A sad smile flitted across her features. "We're creatures of the water, and we need a certain amount of it to survive, more than the average mammal, even though not as much as whales and other marine mammals, who spend their entire lives under the sea." Seeing their beginning-to-be-confused looks, she drove on. "Point is, an Atlantean needs water, which it doesn't get if it walks around on land all the time."

"You're walking around now," Twilight pointed out, to the chagrin of just about everyone present.

Kida sighed. "Yes. And if I continue, then I will need to be completely submerged in some sort of water for a while in about three days. This holds true for all Atlanteans; we have a three-day period to walk on land without ever swimming. If we miss this period, then our fate is inevitable death."

The atmosphere suddenly turned heavy as the weight of the information sank in.

"If there is no water around and we are on the verge, and I mean verge, of the deadline, no sooner, no later, then we can curl up and preserve the little water we have by entering a protective sleep-like state that severely decreases the amount of water our bodies need, sort of like a type of hibernation. By submerging me in water, you made that hibernation unnecessary, and therefore brought me out of it," Kida told Otulissa. "Thank you."

Otulissa nodded, not sure of what else she could do.

"This hibernation is rarely done and has its risks. Like I said earlier, it can only be done at a very specific time. To recognize this time, an Atlantean must first be hyperaware of the amount of water he has left and if he isn't, then he won't realize when his water level is too low and it will be too late. And if he does successfully protect himself, then there is no guarantee that he will touch water and wake up ever again.

"My guess," the Atlantean said, "is that the later happened to me. I went into 'hibernation,' and it wasn't until centuries later that I woke up, courtesy of Otulissa.

"I am not from this time.

"As for the geography," she pointedly looked at Twilight, "continental drift is the theory depicting the continents, which are giant land masses, as plates that are constantly moving. This process is caused by the forces under the crust of the Earth and is too slow to be noticed. But when you're gone for several centuries like I've been –" here Kida gave them a wan smile "- you kind of notice it.

"So apparently I know ancient Hooligan. How cool is that?" Kida asked cheerfully.

Otulissa frowned at Kida's attempt to lighten the dark mood, unwilling to accept the mask her friend had put up. "Kida, are you okay?"

In another sudden mood swing, the Atlantean looked down. "I'm fine. There is nothing I can do about this anyway. Trying to change the past would be the equivalent of trying to understand quantum physics."

"Quantum physics?" Soren enquired.

Kida shrugged. "Like I said, don't ask me, I don't understand them. I'm a musician. A dancer. I'm good at the math and all, but give me a violin over a calculator any day."

"…"

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" Kida sighed at the blank looks.

"What's a calculator?" Martin asked curiously.

"What's a violin?" Gylfie questioned.

"A calculator is an electronic machine that-"

"Electronic?"

"Meaning it runs on electricity."

"What's electricity?" Digger asked, interested as well.

"Face-palm. Right now." Kida dragged one of her front-paws down her face. "Electricity is energy. For example, lightning."

"Lightning is energy?" Twilight asked.

"No. Well, yes. Lightning is a form of electricity, which, like I said, is a type of energy," Kida sighed.

"What other types of energy are there?" Otulissa questioned, interested as well.

"Solar, hydraulic, wind, and I'm sure there are more, but I don't know them."

"You still haven't told us what a calculator is," Martin piped up.

"True. It's a machine that does mathematical calculations for you."

"But I can do them just as well on parchment. What's the difference?" Otulissa asked.

"Machines don't mess up. You could," Kida explained. "And don't try to tell me you haven't ever made a mistake."

"Machines can make mistakes, too. Sometimes they malfunction," Otulissa pointed out.

"Yes, but they for the most part don't and you can really tell when they do," Kida replied.

"Not in the printer's press," Otulissa countered. "They switched two letters and didn't even realize it until they received two thousand complaints."

"See? Somebody noticed."

"But not before they made thousands of wrong copies!" Otulissa stressed.

"What's it matter? Everyone was smart enough to figure out what it was supposed to be, right? It's not like babies were reading it or anything."

"Babies?"

"Babies are young, new-born primates."

"Primates."

"Ever seen a monkey?"

"I can't say that I have, although I've read about them and seen drawings," Bess put forward.

"Good enough. Atlanteans are another example. Humans, or what you call the Others, are, too. Not all primates were intelligent though, or aware, as you put it."

"Ah." Otulissa paused as she tried to remember what they had been talking about. "Yes, everyone was smart enough, but it decreased the paper's credibility!"

"Smart enough…oh! Right. Sorry, took me a moment to remember what we were talking about," Kida said easily in her relaxed and informal way. "I've been known to have a pea-sized attention span."

"What's a pea?"

"…

"Okay, this is not going to work. You will never understand half of what I say if you aren't familiar with the Others," Kida pouted grouchily before her entire demeanor suddenly changed. Grinning, she continued, "Fortunately, however, I can fix that."

**The next chapter will be up soon **

**Happy Spring Break!**


	8. The Origins

**Apparently not so fast. But let me celebrate:**

**One sixth of the way done! WHAT!**

**Yeah, still going to try to get the whole World History caboodle written, though.**

** A fallen tree () – Meh, school. I'm in the reputably worst year of it. Happy to hear you like the story, and I'll incorporate the answers to your questions (way) later in the story **

** SamPD2 – I agree on the long part. Lols, my history teacher condensed our world history onto one page. Front only. Unfortunately, that's not good enough for the exam. And I think you're right about the fact that they're mostly based in Europe; poor, lost Kida. I'll fix it way later, like waay later after all this history stuff is done. The whole explanation of "how we went bye-bye" comes at about the same time, and I might introduce humans in a sequel. Very iffy. I want to write a whole host of other stories first. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: Okay. Same thing, guys. No, I don't own anything/one but Kida. **

**Chapter 8: The Origins**

"Welcome to World History 101, human style!" Kida said cheerfully, standing in her two-legged fashion in front of a large parchment before her new class.

"101?" Ruby asked, tilting her head confusedly.

"It's just a cultural thing that means this is a class that just explains the basics," Kida waved it off. "Ask questions at any time, tell me if I'm going too fast, and here we go!

"Humans, like I said earlier, are a member of the family Hominidae, but they are actually the most recent member. The first member was Australopithecus, who lived 4 million to-"

"Can you say that name slower?" Ruby asked bravely.

"Sure. Au-stra-lo-pi-the-cus. Means 'the southern ape,' but that's just a trivial fact.

"Anyway, Australopithecus lived 4 million to 1 million years ago in Eastern and Southern Africa…which is meaningless to you without a map."

The owls watched as Kida began drawing a map of the world the way it was centuries ago. Otulissa could feel her gizzard thrumming with excitement. It was truly sad that Kida had lost everything she had known, even the land itself, but her knowledge, however old, was gold! They were going to get a full history of the Others, a race that had always mystified and evaded them with its incomprehensible vestiges.

"Okay," Kida interrupted her silent train of thought. (A/N: Feel free to get your own map.) "This is Africa, and the compass is up here. So Australopithecus lived happily in these two regions. As the earliest hominid, it was short and hairy, kind of like an ape, but it was NOT an ape because it was bipedal-"

Twilight raised a claw.

"-meaning it walked on two legs the way I am right now, it had hands-"

Kida sighed exasperatedly at the blank looks they were all giving her. "Oh, come on!" Extending her forepaws for them to observe, the Atlantean spread her long, slender digits. "I have hands. See? And with foresight to the future, these are my fingers." She wiggled them, making them look like a wave when she closed her 'hands.' "Australopithecus was bipedal, had hands, and could communicate with other members of its species since it had a limited intelligence.

"However, evolution carried on and introduced Homo erectus, the next species of hominids. Homo erectus lived 2.5 million to 200,000 years ago and spread to Northern Africa, up here, and Eurasia, keeping to the…temperate zones. It replaced Australopithecus because of its greater intelligence, which let it make more complex tools that it could use for protection, develop a more communal society, and, now this is very important:

"Control fire!"

"What do you mean by 'control fire?'" Soren asked.

"Alright, it was very limited control, but they found out how to make it, and they could control where it spread, for the most part."

The owls stared. "How-"

"I don't know. Of course, once the fire is out of control, unless you have an …armada of firefighters and water, then there isn't much you can do, but a candle, a campfire, even a bonfire, you can control those.

"Okay, now there are three more hominids you should know: the Neanderthals, the Cro Magnons, and Homo Sapiens.

"There's not much to say about the first two groups. The Neanderthals lived 200,000 years, when Homo Erectus was disappearing, to 35,000 years ago in western Germany over here, South Europe, and Southwest Asia (A/N: Southwest Asia is commonly considered the Arabian Peninsula and the Fertile Crescent). An easy way to remember this is by recognizing that the hominids kept moving further and further north into more moderate climates, which were easier for them to survive in.

"Do owls do burial ceremonies?"

Otulissa blinked at the unexpected question. "No. We sometimes burn our dead, but…no."

"Okay. Well, the most significant thing about the Neanderthals is the fact that they ceremoniously buried their dead and placed weapons and tools in the graves, showing, and _please_ don't take any offense, that they cared about each other and had emotions.

"Next, the Cro-Magnon went down a different road. They existed 40,000 years ago _all the way across the globe_-"

"Globe?" several voices chorused, some astonished, most confused.

"Yeah. Globe." Kida looked at them. "You know, Earth? This planet?" She stomped her foot on the ground for emphasis.

"But it's flat!" Twilight burst out.

She scowled. "No. It's round."

"It's flat!" Twilight proclaimed again.

Otulissa looked at the Atlantean to see her response and raised her eye-tufts at Kida's nonchalant answer. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Once again, I'll explain later.

"So. Cro Magnon, 40,000 years ago, around the _globe_," she said, putting emphasis on the last word and looking at Twilight, who stared right back, "and became renowned for their art."

"Art?" Ruby wondered."

"Yep. Art. More specifically, the Venus Figurines, which were small sculptures of their females that had exaggerated se-" Kida broke off and looked down, her face turning slightly red as the owls stared at her.

She swallowed after a moment and coughed out, "Exaggerated sexual features," before hurrying on. "These were found in Central Europe, and displayed, ahem, show us the beginnings of hominids' creative abilities."

"Creative," Twilight scoffed.

"Oh, yes. Very." If Kida was an owl, Otulissa would have sworn she would be swelling with annoyance, but the hominid kept her cool. "Another demonstration of their creative and intellectual aspects was the Lascaux and Altamira, which were paintings of animals in some caves in southern France and northern Spain. They were painted 34,000 to 12,000 years ago, although that's not too important. Just know the Cro Magnons painted them, and, hey hey, here's your first prehistoric art!"

"Can you define prehistoric?" Bess asked intently. Otulissa nearly jumped out of her feathers when she saw the quill in her colleague's poised claws. _Stupid!_ she berated herself. _You should have been taking notes like her!_ But she could always ask Kida again later about the parts she didn't remember.

_If she feels like answering_, a voice whispered in her head. _She might refuse. She might leave._

Otulissa shook herself, trying to be imperceptible as she focused back on Kida.

"And last, but MOST IMPORTANT, we have Homo sapiens! The cream of the crop, excluding us, of course, but we're not talking about Atlanteans. We're talking about humans."

"I thought you said Homo sapiens," Gylfie protested sharply.

Kida did a strange-looking shrug with her shoulders. "Eh, humans, Homo sapiens, same thing. They were the new and improved Homo erectus and lived from 200,000 years ago to, well, _my_ present. 15,000 years ago, much like the Cro Magnon, they had spread to populate the entire world (except for Antarctica. Way too cold.)."

"How did they cross the water?" Otulissa asked.

"There were land bridges back then thanks to the Ice Age when the water froze and sea levels were down," Kida explained. "Anyway, 'Homo sapient' means 'consciously thinking human.' These were the animals with the biggest brainpower around, except for mice, of course."

"_Mice?_" Twilight repeated incredulously.

Kida chuckled. "Douglas Adams, folks, Douglas Adams. If you ever get a chance, read 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.' That book is positively hilarious."

She cleared her throat. "Moving on. I'm going to make a list of what Homo sapiens had, other than large brains, because otherwise, this is going to be too jumbled." She nodded at Bess.

"They, and I cannot stress this enough, were _very intelligent_. You probably wonder how on Earth they survived. Very simple: Brains over Brawn." Kida looked pointedly at Twilight.

"They adapted to their environment; that's how shelters like this castle, advanced tools, and clothes came into being "– here she gestured to the cloth that was somehow tied around her by way of explanation." Or rather, it changed to accommodate them by their will. They were the major cause of the extinction of a lot of the bigger mammals, although climate change helped.

"They had advanced communication skills that allowed greater group-coordination.

"And finally, they had terrific problem solving skills.

"And those are Homo sapiens in a nutshell. Any questions?"

"How did they find all this out?" Soren asked thoughtfully. "Did they pass it down as stories through generations?"

Kida snorted. "No way. This is all here because of science, people. The period of prehistory has no records; it's called prehistory 'cause there weren't any writing systems to write the history. Of course, while there aren't any linguistic records, there are always scientific ones. Scientists found a hominid that they named 'Lucy' in an Ethiopian desert – over here, east Africa. She lived 3.5 million years ago and was the most complete set of fossils ever found, a goldmine of prehistoric info. Anything else?"

"But how could they tell from some old skeleton?" Martin asked.

"Hey, this is a history class, not a science one!"

**Once again: any questions? (Yes, I know I put too many smilies on everything, but they're the only things keeping me sane right now .)**


	9. The Paleolithic Era

**Chapter 9: The Paleolithic Era**

"Ja, so that's the basic rundown of all hominids. The next important concept I'm going to be talking about is the Paleolithic Era, or the-"

"The Ancient Stone?" Bess asked intently.

Kida looked surprised. "How'd you know?"

"The roots," Bess explained.

"That's right, 'paleo' means old," Otulissa remembered.

"True, but the Paleolithic Era was more commonly known as the Old Stone Age. It was the longest part of the humans' existence during which they hunted and gathered all their food."

"What else would they do?" Twilight asked gruffly, trying to cover up his curiosity.

"Let me finish," Kida insisted. "The Paleolithic Era lasted from the beginning of Australopithecus 4 million years ago to 12,000 years ago, a little after humans had taken over the world.

"Life was pretty simple back then. The men hunted, usually big mammals, which, like I said earlier, caused their extinction, and the women and children gathered berries and nuts. This order would influence humans for their entire existence. They lived in smallish bands of 30 to 50 people (it's relative) and these groups interacted with each other to settle territory and mating … agreements."

"What do you mean by agreements?" Gylfie asked astutely. "I get the territory would be like the way the owl kingdoms are set up, but the mate-"

"No," Kida said, shaking her head. "Definitely not like the kingdoms, that came waaaay later. Think wolf packs. You know about them, right?"

"Of course! We've gone to the Beyond the Beyond lots of times!" Twilight boomed.

"There are wolves in the Beyond?" Kida blinked. "Well, that blows my geography theory out of the water.

"But yes, they are very similar. They both live in communal groups, they hunt big game, they live nomadic lives to follow their preys' patterns, and they snarl at each other over land.

"Socially, though, they couldn't be more different. Wolves have a social hierarchy, right? Alpha, beta, down to the omega?"

The owls nodded.

"In the Paleolithic Era, the communities (you can't really call them civilizations) were completely egalitarian. There was no private property or wealth, and this severely hampered any type of social inequality. The only person who had a specific duty was the shaman, or medicineman, doctor, whatever you want to call him. He had 'mystical powers' that let him heal people; it was a very mythical job. Besides that, humans also had a very different diet."

"I thought you said they hunted," Coryn protested.

"Yeah; did none of you hear me when I said that the women and children gathered?"

"…"

"Right. Humans are, or were, I suppose, omnivores, and so these nomads' travel patterns were also affected by the availability of plants. An example of how the local geography affected the locals' lifestyles."

"Wait, but that's another contradiction," Bess now interrupted as she looked down dissatisfied at her parchment.

"Hmm?" Kida raised her eyebrows.

"You said they 'changed their environment,' somehow."

"True," Kida agreed, nodding. "But that didn't really happen much in this era; this is a very primitive era, remember.

"There are some few exceptions." Here Bess nearly rolled her eyes as Kida grinned apologetically at her for continually messing with her formatted notes. "Yeah, I do need a more organized teaching method, don't I?

"Anyway, the first was the Natufian Society. Note the word 'Society' instead of community. It developed in the late Paleolithic Age in 13,500 BCE-"

"Whoa, wait, BCE?" Twilight asked. Otulissa nodded in agreement.

"It's just a measure of years, like I said earlier," Kida sighed. "It'll become clearer later on. Just know it was a really long time ago. I, er, fell asleep in 2011, so this is over 15,000 years before my time.

"Aaaanyway, the Natufian Society formed in the East Mediterranean and is VERY IMPORTANT 'cause it was the first permanent settlement. Its inhabitants didn't need to be nomads anymore because they had a stable and bountiful food source: they harvested wild wheat and hunted animals from local herds. AND, most importantly, this society was the very beginning of agriculture."

"What's a-gri-culture?" Ruby asked.

Kida shrugged. "Just growing plants, like in a garden, only humans did it on a much larger scale. And to answer your earlier question, Bess, agriculture was the major reason humans changed their environment. They could grow a lot more on flat, open surfaces than in mountainous forests."

Otulissa nodded. "That makes sense. It's like my tree-hang; I had to clear lots of space and make sure the sun could reach all my plants. That dip isn't completely natural."

"Exactly," Kida said, sitting down on a nearby ledge. "The Natufians, however, were not the only society. There were two others: the Chinook Society in the Pacific Northwest of North America that lasted from 3,000 BCE to the 1800s in the common era and the Jomon Society in central Japan that existed from 10,000 to 300 BCE, these islands over here. The first, the Chinook, harvested wild berries and hunted salmon."

"Eww, fish?" Otulissa agreed with Martin, feeling her gizzard turn over at the thought.

"Well, they were omnivores, like I said, and the salmon runs were plentiful there. Salmon's actually really good."

"That information would have been really helpful earlier," Otulissa pointed out. Great Glaux, Kida ate some weird things, but Otulissa could have gotten the smelly stuff.

Kida sent a quick grin at her. "If you think that's icky, think about what the Jomons ate. They lived on an island, so fishing was their main food source, although they ate wild buckwheat as well.

"Other than their diets, the Jomon Society, Chinook Society and Natufian Society were pretty similar despite the fact that they developed completely independently of each other: they were all permanent settlements, settled in their locations because of the dependable food source, and were the beginnings of agriculture, a concept that would set human events into motion worldwide."

**Next up: the Neolithic Revolution!**

**Yeah, I know it's short, but it is a topic, and the next one will be in the next chapter for the sake of organization.**


	10. The Neolithic Era

**SamPD – True, true…just say that Bess and Otulissa are scholars; I mean, why would Bess spend all her time studying humans? And remember, owls know just about nothing about the Others and they've been really curious; Soren expressed this a few times in the book and the owls are attracted to Otherish items. I do agree, however, that I'm not really expressing the owls' povs that well; I'm rushing the test's in six days I have forty textbook chapters to translate ahhhhh! So I'm rushing, and I'll go back and fix it after I've got all the history down.**

**As for the twentieth century, yes, yes, we'll get there, but first, we need to cover the classical and post-classical eras.**

**I'll work on the comedy…a little later. I would like to see more as well; I'm a person who always appreciates a joke. And yes, a lot of technology did survive. You will see when we get to the late middle ages. Thanks for telling me your opinion *smileyface***

**Anonymous-hope you don't mind () – Nope, I never mind. Thanks, and**

** both of you: oooh yeah, the owls will DEFINITELY be noticing these parallels. Part of remembering this stuff more easily.**

**Disclaimer: For the last time, NO! I OWN **_**NOTHING!**_

**Chapter 10: The Neolithic Era**

"This revolution was called the Neolithic Revolution, the-"

"New Stone Age," Otulissa, Bess, and Digger chorused.

"Yep!" Kida announced cheerfully. Then she frowned. "Although it was really more like a Transition instead of a revolution because communities didn't develop agriculture overnight; the earliest true agricultural society existed in 9,000 BCE.

"Moving on. The Neolithic era existed from 12,000 years ago to 6,000 years ago; that's a pretty long time. It was named as such because of the better, more polished stones and tools that were found at their sights.

"That's not really important. The important thing is that cultivation, like the gardening Otulissa does, only for food instead of science, and domestication, when…umm…This is awkward." Kida averted her gaze from her intent audience.

"Just tell us," Bess insisted.

Kida still hesitated. "Well…okay. Something you have to get straight is the fact that humans viewed themselves as the only sentient beings on the planet, and so they felt no qualms about, um, keeping certain species trapped and taking care of them until they, umm…"

For once, Twilight's attitude came in handy. "They killed them and ate them."

Kida breathed in sharply. "Yeah. That."

Twilight shrugged. "Hey, we kill to eat, too. I cannot picture depending solely on berries for a diet."

A churr swept through the audience and Kida sighed in relief.

"That's too bad. They're delicious. But like I was saying, cultivation and domestication allowed humans to make their own food source and settle down permanently not just in those three societies, but in formerly nomadic groups across the world. In addition-you know what, this is going to get just too confusing. Okay, Bess, list time!" The Boreal Owl nodded.

"**Agriculture:**

"Provided a **dependable food source** that:

"Allowed **populations to grow**…and grow…and grow some more,

"Which in turn allowed more people more time to be innovative and develop **more complex societies**; there were a surplus of people and it takes less time to get food when it's sitting in the storage room as opposed to running around the savannah."

"And gave nomads the opportunity to quit running after said food and make **permanent homes**,

"Causing the **concept of possessions and wealth** to develop.

"I mean, it's kind of hard to pick up your things and hike all over the place. Really. Picture me trying to carry that humongous stack of books over there. I would make…about a millimeter.

"Now, as for the actual food itself that these people ate…" Kida's eyes twinkled merrily.

"I thought you weren't a human," Otulissa protested.

"I'm not. I'm an Atlantean, but I have the same diet as humans; I'm an omnivore, too. Actually, my diet's more like the one the Chinook people had, seafood and berries. That's because of our geography, though; we do a lot of cultivation on our island, but no domestication, and since we live under the sea, seafood is pretty common.

"But we're getting off topic. Which is what the humans ate, not what I eat.

"Let's start in the year 9,000 BCE with the world's first agriculture: Southwest Asia. They cultivated wheat, the most important grains that humans ate, and domesticated sheep, goats, and cattle, the grazing animals."

"What are those?"

Another sigh from Kida. "Bess?"

"There are some pictures of them in this book." She handed the thick leather-bound book to Ruby.

"They look weird," she giggled.

"A little," Kida said as she observed them. "I guess I've just seen them a lot more, but yes, some of them do look like aliens from some other planet."

"They look a little like deer," Digger said thoughtfully.

"Heavy-duty deer," Twilight added.

"Is this a History class or an Anatomy class?" Kida asked, getting everyone back on track. "Next place is the Southeast Sahara over here, where they had the same animals, sheep, goats and cattle again at about the same time, from 9,000 to 7,000 BCE. For the record, I'm only hitting the most important food sources.

"Okay, now everybody's favorite: veggies!"

"What?" Otulissa wondered.

"Yeah, that was sarcasm. Most vegetables taste utterly repulsive. I don't care how good they are for you, spinach, swischard, beet greens! Blegh! I don't know if you guys have any sayings, but one of the most commonplace words of a parent are: 'Eat your vegetables!' Ewwww!" she moaned.

"Any others?" Bess asked.

"Oh, plenty. Sorry about the rant. Humans began cultivating vegetables in West Africa from 8,000 to 6,000 BCE; personally, I like their yams the best, but everyone has their preferences. East Asia was the lucky place that grew rice and had a good climate to raise pigs and chickens in. And Southeast Asia in 3,000 BCE developed a lot fruits, like bananas (mmm!) and especially citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruits.

"On the other side of the world, in Mesoamerica during 4,000 BCE, the natives grew maize and beans while a little further south in the Andes, the humans grew potatoes in 3,000 BCE."

"What are those?"

"What?" Kida turned her attention to Otulissa.

"The food you were talking about. Po-what was it?" Twilight answered.

"Oh, potatoes. They're a type of vegetable," she said nonchalantly as though it was the commonest thing in the world.

"What's a vegetable?" Martin questioned, frowning.

"…It's one of the food groups that are essential for a healthy diet, at least, for us. Another is fruits, like I mentioned earlier, and then grains, which bread is a major component of.

"Anyway-yes?"

"How did they grow all of this?" Ruby pondered.

"They took care of the land, making sure it had the necessary nutrients and things for the plants, and then-" Otulissa's potentially long and definitely dry speech was interrupted by Kida.

"Sorry, Otulissa, but unfortunately, no. Humans still weren't advanced enough to understand the concept of nutrients, and, quite frankly, taking care of Earth was usually not high on their priority list. They used a 'slash and burn' technique that was, while very productive, also very harmful to the environment. See, the famers would create farmland by burning the area's vegetation, thereby making space for their own crops. They mass-produced a lot of food, which helped them, but at the same time, they exhausted the land very quickly, causing them to keep spreading, leaving a trail of destroyed land and then constantly making more."

Silence met this announcement.

"It eventually changed for the better…sort of, cause when this problem was fixed, more environmental problems started and…well…you'll see later.

"Yeah, so, 'member that 'Effects of Agriculture' list I told you all earlier?" Kida continued.

"The mass food production caused a population growth, didn't it?" Bess asked, perusing her notes.

Kida nodded. "You bet. An exponential one. And with that comes, also from the list, complex societies. Jericho, a village in Israel that was one of the earliest known Neolithic villages, and Catal Huyuk, which was close-by in Anatolia (A/N: modern-day Turkey), are considered the beginning of the Neolithic Transition, in about 8,000 BCE, and developed the fine arts and tools. Catal Huyuk demonstrates the positive effects of agriculture better, because it was originally very small and unnoticeable. Then, agriculture, meet Catal Huyuk, and bam! A tiny little itty-bitty town becomes a booming trade center."

"What did they trade?" Otulissa asked.

"Pottery, at first. A key characteristic of agricultural societies is pottery; they have to store their food somewhere, right? So the Jomon society created pottery, the first craft industry in the whole world."

"Baskets work just as well," Martin protested. He paused. "They did have baskets, right?"

"Yeah, but baskets corrode over time, same as the food."

"They don't corrode that fast," Gylfie said. "How long were they trying to preserve their food?"

"Winter's a harsh time, so the humans usually gathered in the fall and preserved their findings for the entire season."

"So they still could have used baskets," Gylfie reasoned.

Kida sighed. "Yes, for some things. For others, clay pots were better. Seriously, you think the Ancient Egyptians were going to put their pharoahs' remains in flimsy little balls of straw?"

They all stared. "What?"

She looked down sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself.

"I'm sure you'll all be familiar with this next trade: metalworking!"

"Who invented that?" Soren asked interestedly. "Grank had introduced it to the owl world, so who did the humans thank?"

"No one in particular. This trait developed everywhere independently of all everywhere else, and was the beginning of future technology.

"Another important characteristic of agricultural societies is textiles, which emerged in 6,000 BCE two thousand years later. And last, but far from least, social classes began. See, with trade came the notion of privately-owned property, and as families accumulated varying amounts of wealth, a scale was born. The more possessions you had, the higher you were."

"One last thing the Neolithic Era and agriculture brought about was cities. You can think of your tree as a city; it has a dense population," – here Kida twisted to look at Otulissa, an amused glint in her eyes – "a marketplace, social distinctions, and specialized industry and workers.

"Yeah, so cities were popping up all over the place a-"

"No, wait, no we don't!" Twilight blustered. "The Tree is all about equality!"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous" – Twilight scowled while all the others frowned in confusion – "of course it has social classes. It's just based on age and experience instead of wealth, which is a very good thing, believe you me. You wouldn't believe the trouble humans ran into with wealth-based classes, I mean, the Middle Ages just-"

"The what?" Coryn asked, still frowning.

"…I don't think you want me to get ahead of myself again. If I did, you would be very very lost.

"But back to what I was saying-"

"And what do you mean by 'industry?'" Ruby asked.

"She means the guilds, right?" Otulissa clarified, glancing towards their informant at the end.

"Yeah, even though the chaws would be an example, too." Kida scratched her head a little. "Basically, if you specialize in a specific job, you're a specialized worker. For example, the blacksmith – you do have a blacksmith, right?"

They all smiled fondly at this question. "Bubo."

"…Who?"

"Bubo," Coryn explained. "Did you see a Great Horned Owl with lots of singes?"

"Uhhh…no. But then again, I didn't get around that much."

"You got out plenty!" Otulissa said in an accusing tone of voice.

Here Kida looked around, evading all their eyes and grumbling something that left them all blinking once again in – you got it – confusion:

" …"

"Excuse me?" Otulissa asked slightly incredulously.

Kida glanced up. "What?"

"What was that?" Otulissa questioned.

"What do you mean?" Now Kida was frowning as well.

"You were…growling," Ruby said hesitantly.

"No, I wasn't. I was just saying…" She stopped, clearly unenthusiastic about enlightening her audience to her private thoughts.

"That was your native language, wasn't it?" Digger asked quietly.

A little hesitant, Kida nodded. "Sorry. I guess I kind of slipped into it."

"Why are you sorry?" Bess asked, excitement in her posture. "What was it?"

Kida shifted uncomfortably. "Atlantean…"

Otulissa, noticing the discomfort of her…charge, she supposed, winged in. "Can we finish this history lesson first?" she asked firmly, looking at Bess with a clear message: be careful.

Kida immediately brightened. "Sure! Prepare for information overload!"

Kida wasn't an artifact. Otulissa felt almost embarrassed to have ever considered this dynamic character anything but sentient. It was quite clear that Kida had feelings, emotions, opinions and insightfulness, and Otulissa wondered if she was being unusually protective with her wish to not see any harm, physical or mental, befall her…friend? Would Kida consider her a friend? Otulissa had ordered her about (even though none of the rules had been followed) and did everything in her power to cut Kida's freedom. She hadn't known, but she still felt guilty. And she didn't even know Kida that well; was she forgiving? Vengeful? So far, Kida hadn't done much, depriving Otulissa of an insight into her character. She seemed happy, but to say that she was always happy would be too superficial. And she had expressed deep sorrow earlier, so she was obviously more complex.

"Welcome to Mesopotamia…"

Otulissa shook her head and focused on the smiling enigma before her. It was the least she could do.

**Yeah, I will definitely be revising later. Right now, I'm just trying to get all the history out, and next week, I will be adding in more…story-like elements, 'cause right now, I'm just running out of time.**

**See ya!**


	11. Mesopotamia

**SamPD2 - *whines* Would you be disappointed if I did it later when I revise these chapters? Not a month, but, like, a few days? I will be sure to include your PC…**

**Chapter 11: Mesopotamia**

"Welcome to Mesopotamia," Kida said cheerfully as though nothing had happened. "This is the land of the warring city-states, such as Ur, Nippur, and Kish, to name the more important ones."

Ruby raised a claw.

"…Which were the cities that controlled the agricultural surrounding regions, so you could say this was a little like the beginning of a system like the Owl Kingdoms. Actually, scratch that. If time didn't change much, then the Kingdoms don't have individual governments."

"True," Coryn nodded. _I wish_, he added silently.

"The city-states were the first ones to develop organized institutions that created political order and got the community to work together, however unwillingly.

"Yeah, so, these city-states were all conquered by Sargon of Akkad and he ruled them collectively as the first Mesopotamian emperor. Now, and this will be a recurring theme, an emperor needs to be good at two things to be successful: being a military leader and being an administrator. Sargon was both, so his empire survived to meet its next set of rulers, the Babylonians, and its most important emperor, Hammurabi. Hammurabi wasn't so special in himself, I mean, sure he improved the government, but this is secondary to his more important legacy known as Hammurabi's Code.

"Hammurabi's Code was a very strict set of high-standard rules that had severe consequences, frequently death, for being broken, although he generally followed the 'rule of retaliation.' He claimed that the 'gods had made it his duty to rule,' another trend rulers seemed to fashion across the world, and therefore he basically stayed in power until 1750 BCE.

"Moving on. After the Babylonians, the Assyrians came from their homes in Northern Mesopotamia and took over with their powerful army and handy control of the trade routes. Pretty much all you need to know about them is that they were the final empire of Mesopotamia; Nebuchadnezzar showed off Mesopotamia's immense wealth, and therefore, despite the wonderful chariots and strong weapons that the Assyrians had brought with them, outsiders defeated them. The fact that the empire had spread until it was too big to be able to manage effectively also helped the foreigners tear it apart and assimilate pieces of it into their own cultures until there was no more Mesopotamia left.

"But as usual, I'm getting ahead of myself, 'cause we haven't even covered what happened _during_ the empire.

"Throughout the empire's existence, social classes were distinctly defined. The king was, naturally, at the top, and was, after Hammurabi's example, considered the offspring of the gods who was meant to rule the priestly elites, commoners, and slaves."

"What?" Otulissa gasped.

Kida nodded. "I'll just go down the scale. The priests were second to the king and they lived in temple communities, where they provided community services and made their own livings. Next came the commoners, who were peasant cultivators in the countryside or professional craftsmen in the city. Either way, they were the producers. Actually, that was only the free commoners. The other half of commoners were dependent clients, which were agricultural laborers who had no land and therefore had to work on others' for their meals. They were slightly lower than free commoners, but fairly equal. They all had to pay taxes and give labor whenever the government demanded it. And the lowest were the slaves, the prisoners of war and criminals or even the people who had been forced to sell themselves to pay off their debts."

"That's terrible," Gylfie gasped.

Kida smirked grimly. "Oh, that's nothing. The slaves were usually domestic servants for wealthy people and were set free after several years, as opposed to later in the Atlant-"

"And lastly, you really need to know the difference between men's roles and women's roles."

"What would be the difference?" Soren enquired.

"Men were generally physically stronger, and therefore became arrogant. They began to dominate the female side of the race, making all the decisions, whether about public or private affairs. The Hammurabi Code? It recognized men as the heads of their families, while women were simply advisors or meek little people forced to stay in the house and do the housework – hollowwork? – by their controlling husbands.

"I need to get off this topic, because it is just upsetting me.

"Going back to earlier, the city-states made up Mesopotamia, but at the same time they kept fighting with each other for wealth and power – see, I told ja wealth would come back to bite them in the…

"Ahem. Like I mentioned earlier, they had complex social systems of classes, specialized labor and a lot of trade the way cities tend to have."

"Then what made them worth noting?" Bess questioned.

"Mesopotamia was the FIRST civilization. Almost as importantly, it had a writing system, organized religions, the wheel, irrigation systems, and a varied culture."

"Um, could you go a little slower?" Ruby asked hesitantly.

Kida flashed her a smile. "Yeah. I did say this was going to be information overload, right?

"Mesopotamia, made up of city-states, invented the first writing system, had organized religions, invented the wheel and irrigation systems, and was a hotspot for diversity."

"Now, could you say it with greater clarity?" Gylfie asked a little sharply.

Kida looked confused. "I'm not so sure of how to make it any clearer, but okay…Mesopotamia was first ruled by the Sumerians, the people who invented Cuneiform, or the first alphabet, in 2900 BCE."

"What does Cuneiform looked like?" Otulissa asked, intrigued. Languages had always fascinated her.

Kida just looked at her in a dead-pan. "How am I supposed to know? I'm not that old, thanks." She grinned wryly for a moment before continuing. "It was, however, made up of symbols that were pressed into clay tablets. They used it to keep records, especially economic ones, and with this came the idea of schools."

"Schools?" Twilight pronounced carefully, glancing at Soren and Gylfie who had shivered at their harsh memories of a particular school they had been forced to attend.

"Please tell me you know what a school is," Kida said, voice pained to everyone's surprise.

"We know very well," Otulissa assured her. "You were saying?"

"Right. Because of the schools, most Mesopotamians were literate, and therefore Mesopotamia developed a distinct culture.

"Oh!" Kida suddenly said, eyebrows raised. "I almost forgot. We have now officially entered another period of history."

"How many periods are there?" Twilight barked.

"A lot, but in this matter, only two: prehistory and official history. Prehistory is the history that we had to use science to find; there are no recordings of it because in prehistory, there were no writing systems. The Sumerian Mesopotamians officially started history. Pretty cool, huh?

"I believe the next thing I mentioned was…um…"

"Religions," Bess stated helpfully.

"Right! Oh, boy. This gets complicated. See, humans had many different religions. I think I'm correct in saying owls only have one?"

"Yes," Bess confirmed.

"What?" Twilight asked.

"You believe in Glaux, right? Still do?"

"Of course!"

"Okay. And most all owls share this sentiment?"

"…I've never met one that doesn't."

"Well, count yourselves lucky that you didn't have any religious wars in your history then, because the Crusades-"

Kida abruptly interrupted herself. "The Mesopotamians for the most part believed in local deities; one city-state would worship one god, another would worship a different god, and so on. They built huge stepped pyramids known as ziggurats for their specific deities from 3200 BCE onward.

"Just outside of Mesopotamia there was a different religious group that had pretty similar viewpoints that owls seem to have. The Hebrews, a people who spoke – surprise! – an ancient Hebrew language, had a monotheistic religion as well, believing in a single God. They lived between Egypt and Mesopotamia until about 1850 BCE when a man called Abraham led them to Egypt over here. And then, in 1300 BCE, a number of these immigrants decided to return to Palestine, the area on the east banks of the Mesopotamian Sea right…here. The people who didn't make this journey became known as Hebrews.

"The people who did travel back came to be known as Israelites. Moses gave them the 10 Commandments, ten rules that Yahweh, the God I told you about, had given him on his trip to a mountain top and to this da-, weeeell, until my time, at least, they were revered.

"Originally just a bunch of tribes, they soon formed a government, no, not one like yours, and King David ruled the Israelites from 1000 BCE to 970 BCE. Then King Solomon reigned from King David's death in 970 to 930 BCE. After his death, though, the kingdom split into Israel in the north and Judea in the south.

"If you couldn't guess, this caused another division in the religion. The people of Judea soon declared themselves to be Jews instead of Israelites, and they are the only group that survive – today."

"What was the difference?" Otulissa asked intently.

Kida shrugged. "No idea. History, I guess. The Assyrians soon conquered Israel and exiled its inhabitants in 722 BCE while in 586 BCE, the New Babylonian Empire conquered Judea and destroyed the holy city of Jerusalem, forcing the Jews into exile as well. However, the Jews, unlike the Israelites, maintained their culture despite getting the boot and returned soon after this short-lived empire's downfall, only to be attacked again around Year Zero by the Roman Empire – which I haven't told you about yet. Joy

"I also said the Mesopotamians were inventors, didn't I?"

"What's a wheel?" Digger asked.

"It was…a circular…here, just let me draw it for you." A quick circular sketch with lines that cut through its center formed on the parchment. "The Sumerians started created them in 3500 BCE and were very pleased with the effects. See, the wheel made it much easier for traders to carry heavy cargo over long distances."

"How did it work?" Gylfie asked.

Kida stared for a moment. "I see one, I'll show you. And that wasn't the only thing the Mesopotamians used. They also built ships – oh, for Pete's sake, it you ask me what a ship is, I'll-I'll…I don't know what I'll do, but it won't be pretty.

"So, think of ships as the wheels of the sea. Once again, they made it easier to carry cargo and increased trade considerably.

"The Mesopotamians also developed a complex irrigation system that…do you know what an irrigation system is?"

"Yes," Bess, Otulissa, Gylfie, and Soren chorused.

"No," everyone else said.

"…Okay. It's basically a construction that made it easier for farmers to get water to their vast fields of plants. Relatively simple in comparison to what humans made later, but still, the reservoirs and canals could be considered impressive technological achievements for their time since they were very helpful in supplying enough food.

"Speaking of technology, the Mesopotamians were also great at the math/science field. They used advanced astronomy to make accurate calendars and advanced mathematics to make accurate maps.

"And the last thing I'm talking about is the mixed cultures, right?"

The owls nodded.

"Okay, basically, Mesopotamia was a wealthy land. It had fertile valleys, little rain, but plenty of water from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that surrounded its land, which was called the Fertile Crescent. In case you don't remember, this was the same general area that began agriculture. So plenty of good land, lots of agriculture, lots of food, a disctinct and organized society, etc., was very attractive to foreign migrants such as Hebrews and Phoenicians-"

"Who were the Phuneesions?" Gylfie asked.

Kida didn't look ruffled at all by the interruption. "The Phoenicians lived about the same time as the Mesopotamias, a little after 3000 BCE to year zero and were very similar. They had autonomous city-states, many of Mesopotamia's nature deities, spoke a Semitic language, and used the Mesopotamian alphabet, which they adapted to make it appreciably easier to use by turning it into the world's first phonetic system."

"Phonetic?" Twilight frowned.

"Meaning the symbols were based off of a sound rather than a particular object. There are millions of objects; there were only about 26 sounds the Phoenicians used in their language. Like, I said, easier.

"At the same time, however, the Phoenicians were very different because the geography in their home right above Palestine didn't let them do much agriculture, and so they did a lot of trade and had to import pretty much all of their natural resources, like food, thread, etc. In return, they gave manufactured products, like cloth and pots.

"But anyway, many people moved to Mesopotamia, and brought their cultures with them, causing interaction, mingling, and eventually the creation of a mixture of these cultures.

"On a side note, the best-known Mesopotamian was a heroic figure called Gilgamesh. I guess you could call him a legend; he had was a great military leader in 2750 BCE, but as time went on, people built on his historical background, making him a mythical hero with superpowers. They even wrote a book about him called _Epic of Gilgamesh_, which was a collection of short stories with moral themes, especially ones of friendship. If you ever find that book, though, good luck reading it; it's only in Cuneiform, as far as I know.

"Now, on an important side-note-"

"How much more can there be?" Twilight groaned.

Kida smiled reassuringly. "A fair amount, but if it's any comfort, this info applies to much more than just Mesopotamia. And you might find it interesting because the topic's more familiar. What was the first metal owls tried to forge?"

"Uhh…" A collective shrug went through the audience.

"Well, humans first tried to forge gold, it was too soft and it was rare, so that was no good. They then tried to use copper, but it was also too soft to be any kind of tool or weapon.

"So, in a stroke of ingenuity, they decided to mix copper with tin in 4000 BCE, and voila, look, it's bronze! Hey Twilight, here's another important age: the Bronze Age!"

Twilight had to consciously stop himself from groaning again.

"Bronze was stronger, harder, and more durable, so it was way more effective. On the other hand, it was, once again, very rare and therefore expensive and therefore not as great as iron, which the Mesopotamians invented in 1000 BCE, and would have a major impact from then on.

"Iron is to bronze what bronze was to copper. It was sharper, harder to damage, and, most importantly, it was available.


	12. More Empires

**I'M SORRY! *sobs hysterically* I did not realize how little access I would have to any computer all week long.**

**Unless you have a history test coming up, please don't read this. I realize that it needs way more…everything in it. This is currently only for the benefit of history test-takers such as myself, and I WILL FIX IT.**

**Randomname – That's what it's for (my smiley faces don't work in FanFic!)**

**SamPD2 – Yeah, PMs would be good. Ummm…can we deal with the visual analogies later? Please? I really suggest you don't read this for anything but history, like I wrote above. It's just dry nonfiction at the moment (for the most part).**

**Chapter 12: More Empires**

"…They rode other animals?" Otulissa was positively dumbstruck.

Kida sighed again. "Yes. For the last time, yes, the Hittites rode horses and it was their war chariots, made of iron and drawn by horses, which allowed them to become the dominant power of Southwest Asia. Can we move on now?"

She took silence as agreement.

"Alright, the last major migration you need to know is that of the Indo-Europeans, who spread through most of Eurasia. They made it from Ireland to India, at least, so that's pretty considerable. An example of this immigration would be how the Aryans pushed the Celts, an Indo-European group, out of east India and forced them to become the first group to enter Europe.

"Now let's move to Africa, 'cause it probably feels neglected right about now. For those who don't know, Africa has the biggest desert in the world, the Sahara, which splits the continent into, whoa, big surprise here, sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa.

"I am not explaining where those areas are located.

"The Sahara wasn't always a desert, though. Africa used to be a steppe land full of grass and freshwater, which was perfect for humans. It's the same story as everywhere else: in 9000 BCE, people in Sudan discovered domestication and raised cattle while cultivating a grain called sorghum. They began building societies, small states with kings, and developed a religion wherein the king was semi-divine, and had to be provided for in the afterlife.

"This comes back to haunt us throughout history.

"Anyway, Africa, nice, green, full of resources, people had dandy lives, and then in 5000 BCE, four thousand years later, the climate began to get hotter and drier, becoming uninhabitable and forcing people to leave.

"Where would they go? Easy: wherever water was. So, huge civilizations formed around the Nile River, which flooded its banks annually and left nice, fertile soil each year, and other major rivers.

"We're talking North Africa here. I'll get to sub-Saharan Africa soon.

"The most famous civilization in North Africa was Ancient Egypt. It was united by Emperor Menes in 3100 BCE, the first emperor of Egypt. He founded the capital, Memphis, which was called the City of Kings, although another political center known as Thebes was already present, and created a centralized government the way so many emperors do.

"So many emperors also ensure their absolute power over their people by claiming to be at least semi-divine. Remember in Sudan and how I said that would come back to haunt? Menes used this idea and began the concept of the 'divine pharaoh,' claiming that the pharaoh was the son of the sun god and thereby giving him absolute power, and I mean ab-so-lute.

"Below him were the other various social classes. Interestingly, Egypt had no noble class, although this isn't very surprising: someone who wants such absolute control wouldn't want to share with underlings. Your class was basically determined by your specialized labor and wealth. For example, peasants and slaves were at the bottom and provided a lot of the hard labor. Another example, scribes had comfortable lives because they had a formal education, something that was hard to get back then, and were therefore valuable to society.

"These scribes used a pictographic system called hieroglyphs that had thousands of characters and was written on temples and monuments. Of course, the huge number of characters made it complicated, so the scribes used a lot of Hieretic, or a shorthand version of hieroglyphics. This was still very complex, so when the Greeks made a phonetic alphabet, everyone rejoiced and adopted this very simple writing system.

"Unfortunately, we don't know much about the first one I mentioned, the hieroglyphics. Thanks to the Rosetta Stone, which was found in the Nile delta, we have a better understanding because it has three languages on it, and we can understand Ancient Greek, so this gives cryptologists hints to hieroglyphics, one of the other languages on the Stone.

"But enough about language. There's one more important thing to know about Egypt's society. Like Mesopotamia, it was patriarchal, but at the same time, women did have more rights, especially if the family's men had died. A woman called Hatshepsut even ruled Egypt at one point (although she wore the traditional pharaoh beard).

"Now for the dry stuff. Ancient Egypt existed from 2660 to 1100 BCE. This time period is divided into three parts. During the Old Kingdom, which lasted five hundred years, the pharaoh was at the height of his power. This was the time when the great pyramids were built for said pharaohs to show their divine status and authority. They were tombs-you know what tombs are, right?"

"No." The answer was unanimous.

"They're graves."

"…"

A sigh. "Humans buried their dead and often put markers on the place where the dead rested. Granted, a pyramid is a bit extreme, but it's the same idea. The Ancient Egyptians were scared of spiritual death and believed in an afterlife. They had a polytheistic religion which claimed Osiris was the god of the underworld, a being that offered immortality for high moral standards. Think 'Voldemort' when you think of the Ancient Egyptians…

"Ahem. Nevermind. To ensure that their leaders would have a good afterlife, the Ancient Egyptians conserved everything for them, even the body. Since I don't think everyone hear is interested in hearing how they used long hooks to pull out the intestines with as little disturbance to the external skin as possible, I'm just going to move on and say that they also put possessions in the tombs for the dead's convenience.

"They really viewed life and death as a cycle, like the crops. You know how plants become dormant during the winter and then revive in the spring?

"Of course you do. That's what they thought life and death was like.

"Another god they had was Amon-Re, the god associated with the sun. He had a temple at Heliopolis, and even a cult. A pharaoh called Akhenaten, who ruled during the future New Kingdom in the 1300s BCE, temporarily made Egypt follow a monotheistic religion that worshiped him as the only god, although this monotheistic religion died with him.

"Moving on, because we've got more dry stuff to learn, the Old Kingdom fell apart because of a civil war, and Lower and Upper Egypt (this is based on the river; Upper Egypt was upstream in the south) were re-stabilized in 2040 BCE. Unfortunately, Egypt was weaker than before, and so it only lasted another five hundred years until 1640, when the Hyksos, not the Hittites, the Hyksos, came.

"Hey, lookee here, they were horse-riding nomads too! Using advanced bronze technology, their horses and chariots, this Semitic group conquered Egypt and ended the Middle Kingdom. They didn't have too much effect, really only improving Egyptian technology and giving them the horse, but it was enough that when the New Kingdom came after a short period of 100 years worth of Hykso rule, it was the highest point of Ancient Egyptian civilization.

"During the New Kingdom, the Egyptians kept a policy called 'the best defense is an offense.' I'm sure you've heard of it. Their conquests were especially successful as they used more bronze, but bronze was expensive, so they eventually moved to iron.

"They also built temples and big public buildings instead of pyramids and made a bureaucracy, a government with many levels instead of one ruler, symbolizing strong imperial power. It even managed to conquer Nubia in the south, which I will be discussing right about now.

"Nubia, in relation to Egypt, was south of it up the Nile River and wasn't quite as powerful; actually, no kingdom in Africa was as powerful as Ancient Egypt. Anyway, it was similar to Egypt partially because it had the same Sudanic roots and mostly because Egypt had a strong influence over it. In summary, Nubia had classes based on wealth same as Egypt even though its women didn't have as many privileges. It had an Upper Nubia, known as Kush, and a Lower Nubia, which was very susceptible to Egyptian control. Its religion was very similar to Egypt's, with a semi-divine king, and it even fused its culture with Egypts by adopting many of Egypt's gods. At the same time, it kept its own deities and it did not mummify its people." Kida shivered here. "Nubia had a writing system called Meriotic writing, which was created in Kush as a way to rebel against Egyptian control, and this one, much like Egypt's hieroglyphs, still has yet to be deciphered. Nubia rebelled later on and its successful split from Egypt contributed to the empire's downfall, especially when Kush turned around and conquered Egypt, giving it a taste of its own medicine. At least, until…you don't really need to know about the Assyrians.

"The most important thing about Nubia, however, is its interaction with Egypt. These two were trade partners. I don't know if y'all have set-ups like this down here, but Egypt was beside Mesopotamia and therefore had access to lots of manufactured products. Nubia was a gateway to sub-Saharan Africa, a place rich with natural resources, especially iron, which replaced Egypt's use of expensive bronze. This control over raw, unrefined products gave Nubia the upperhand over Egypt since you need raw materials to make manufactured ones.

"As for how they traded, the Nile really came in handy. The Egyptians, surrounding a Nile and with the Red Sea to the East and the Mesopotamian Sea to the North, became very handy in the water. The Nubians, on the other hand, had a lot of cataracts on their end of the Nile, so they used the land to travel and carry their cargo, and their waterskills, it should be known, really stank.

"Aaaaaand I think that's it," Kida mused. "Phew, that's a lot, and that's just Northern Africa."

A collective groan met her.

"Oh, don't worry, sub-Saharan Africa has way less. Really. It had little interaction with other cultures because of the Sahara, not like Mesopotamia, Egypt and Nubia, which interacted constantly with each other.

"The most influential people down here were the Bantu, a people who had developed agriculture. Check back to the list and remember that agriculture means more population, and therefore a strain on natural resources. The ones they got from the surrounding nomads for their own manufactured products weren't enough, so their answer was to spread in search of more resources. They were all over sub-Saharan Africa by 1000 CE (wow, that's way ahead there) and as the Bantu people spread, so did their culture. Former hunters and gatherers gained iron and agriculture from the immigrants and intermarried with the newcomers, fusing the cultures and religions.

"This wasn't a united effort, though. The Bantu lived in tribes or familial clans that had chiefs, once again like wolf packs. There were no defined social classes, although there was a personal government, and it didn't have a written language. Instead, it had griotts, storytellers who passed down tales from generation to generation orally. And besides, when they migrated, the Bantus became isolated from each other and split off into hundreds of sectors. Each one made its own language, based on the original Bantu one, granted, but still, different enough. Then again, China had many languages and one writing sys-

"Yeah. Ummm, the Bantu traveled on the waterways in canoes, and like I said earlier, used iron technology…ummm…

"Oh! This is interesting. They were monotheistic. While religions did change as they met each other, everyone believed that everything came from one god. They prayed to multiple spirits, but their religion was still monotheistic. Strange, right? No?

"Well, no worries, because India is up next.

"No, that's not Ethiopia, it's India."

**Ugh, I feel like my brain melted.**

**Once again, yes, I will go back and fix it.**

**I'm serious, one of my friends accidentally mistook India for Ethiopia. She was looking at the map sideways.**

**Until next time!**


	13. The Harappan Society

**Chapter 13:** The Mystery of the Harappan Society

"Review time!" Kida cheered. "Do the Aryans sound familiar?"

"They were the people who pushed the Indo-Europeans out of India," Otulissa said confidently.

"Yep. Okay, review's over, because that's all I told you about the Aryans. You don't really need to know about their society or their politics, or even their deity Indra, but you do need to know what they did.

"In 8000 BCE, Neolithic societies were built on the west side of the Indus River, and by 3000 BCE five thousand years later, they had begun full out agriculture. The local residents grew wheat, barley, and cotton, and kept cattle, sheep, and goats, similar to their western neighbors.

"Now, I know that when I said 'the Aryans pushed people out' you guys thought I was talking about the Aryans conquering the land and actively forcing people to up and go, but in truth, the Aryan Intrusion into India was a mass migration in 1500 BCE.

"I'm not saying there was no conflict; the Aryans from Central Asia fought with the native Dravidians over India's rich resources, each trying to hold his own home on the land. But eventually, in around 1000 BCE, the two races had mingled enough through intermarriage that they had fused into a single new culture, the Harappan society.

"The Harappan society is a big mystery. We don't know how it started because we only have artifacts from its golden period, and we haven't decrypted its writing system, either, so we don't have any records of its origin, or anything else, really.

"We _do_ know, however, that the Harappan society is similar to any other civilization, especially Mesopotamia and Egypt. I believe I mentioned the Indus River they depended on? Just like the Nile or the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia that surrounded the Fertile Crescent, the Indus flooded its banks, thereby creating fertile soil, and this, as you well know…

"I've already said this. Many times. Anyone feel like reiterating for me?"

"More food," Gylfie began.

"Which led to a bigger population," Twilight continued.

"And cities," Soren added.

Kida raised her eyebrows. "Nice. But that wasn't all; you forgot the specialized labor bit, which is kind of important. I mean, just picture the Tree without your blacksmith."

They all shivered somewhat at that.

"And you also forgot, although I don't think I made a big point of this, that the river was a major transportation device. It carried boats, the people on the boats, and, in merchants' cases, the people's goods easily from city to city. You'll basically find that where there is a well, there is a way.

"What?" Soren wondered aloud.

"A well is the water source of the humans. What I meant was that the humans used waterways to get from landmass to landmass.

"And as for the cities, well, the term 'city' is a very loose term that describes any economic or political (or both) center. The closest thing you guys seem to have is your Tree, but the Tree doesn't have any city-walls for defense, or religious temples, or a marketplace-"

"We have a 'marketplace,'" Otulissa protested. "It was where I…" She trailed off, unable to bring the word 'bought' followed by 'you' to her beak.

Kida ignored the potential offense. Instead, she simply smiled at her guardian. "But it's not there all the time, I presume?"

"Well, no-"

"Then it's not an actual marketplace. Anyway, cities also had public buildings-"

"What about the Great Hollow?" Digger put in.

Kida opened her mouth, thought for a moment and then let her breath go. "Touché."

"I'm sorry?" Coryn asked for the owls, puzzled.

"Touché." Realizing they didn't know what she meant, Kida elaborated. "Meaning you have a point that I can't counter – at least at the moment.

"Now, does the owl world have a single writing system, or are there multiple ones?"

"…Krakish is spoken up in the North and has a different language, and we were just exploring Jouzhen," Otulissa replied a little hesitantly.

The odd creature lightly smacked herself in the head. "Duh," she muttered. "Right. I remember Krakish, but I bet it'll be too old to do any good. Anyway, Krakish is spoken in the North, right? Still is?"

"Yes," Gylfie confirmed.

"And Hooligan is spoken in the South? And this Jouzhen, it's spoken in a kingdom you guys have never heard of?" They nodded. "These areas are blocked off from each other. If I'm reading this map right, and I desperately hope I am," Kida said as she observed the map of the current Owl Kingdoms, "the Ice Narrows separate the North and South and you guys said that the Sixth Kingdom was across the sea. There you go. Natural barriers that prevented mingling between these three linguistic groups."

"What's the point of this?" Twilight asked irritably.

"The point is, you can tell that the separate parts of each group all belong within a bigger group.

"I did not explain that very well.

"Okay, there are multiple Southern Kingdoms, but they're all part of the same region. We know that, but how would an outsider tell?"

"By recognizing the linguistic similarities?" Otulissa immediately responded.

"Yes," Kida said, pointing at her with a finger. "Because of their common language. Or any commonalities, really. For example, the cities Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa were both recognized as units of the Harappan society despite the distance between them because they had the same standards in measurements, political system, architectural styles, and currency, which just gives it away."

"Currency?" Coryn asked.

Kida looked at him in a deadpan. "Currency is a much easier way to trade. Instead of saying 'I'll give you this for that' and haggling over worth, currency allows merchants or vendors or whoever to put fixed values of worth on their goods and gets rid of the highly inconvenient necessity to drag twenty-six dead chickens to the marketplace or something."

"…Ah."

Kida nodded and continued. "Once again similar to the other civilizations we discussed, the concept of wealth was born in the Harappan society, and it, in turn, caused social classes to emerge. Sadly, there was a big difference between the rich's and the poor's lifestyles, something that this world doesn't have, and thank goodness for that.

"Another sad thing is that that is pretty much all we know about Harappan society. Like I stated before, we ironically cannot read the many written records that are stored.

"That's the same reason I can't tell you anything about the Harappan society's politics.

"And as for religion, well, that is a relatively easy subject. The Harappans have shown a deep concern about fertility." Kida's cheeks took on a slightly pinkish hue. "They were polytheistic like many of their time, believing that the gods and goddesses had created Earth and nature, which they also considered sacred from the animals to the trees.

"It is believed that the Harappan religion had a strong influence on the future religion called Hinduism, which I will get to soon.

"Now, when I said 'picture an Egyptian city,' that was slightly inaccurate. The Harappans did not make giant pyramids or tombs or palaces or whatevers for their leaders. Instead, more like Mesopotamia, they had a highly advanced water and sewage system that carried these things to and from the cities. Let me just put it this way: owls would have no need for the later.

"As for other technology, well, I'm just going to say that they were experts with the metallurgy of their time and move on.

"I need to highlight something important about India," Kida told them. "It is very wealthy. Like, VERY wealthy (Trader Mags would adore the place) and as such, the Harappans were a wealthy group of people.

"Usually, such wealth would draw jealous foreign attackers, like we saw in Mesopotamia, but not so.

"No, instead, we don't know much about the Harappan society's ending, much like we don't know about its beginning." Kida suddenly became very solemn. "Do you remember what I said about how humans had a hugely negative impact on their surroundings?"

Otulissa shivered at the new, cold atmosphere.

"This would be a good example. The Harappans deforested their land for firewood and cultivation, causing erosion and desert to form. This ecological degradation could have been the cause of the powerful society's demise, since if there's no good land, then there's no food.

"It's also possible that while they did destroy their environment, unrelated natural disasters were a bigger cause; it's hard to build cities in the midst of floods and earthquakes. Just think of how this place would crumble in them.

"A pretty good guess is that the cities were disbanded as the land crumbled around the residents. Of course, not everyone left, and like I said before, some migrants came, attracted by India's wealth. These migrants had a similar impact that the Aryans did: they helped create a brand new society. However, the newcomers' population was very small and as such, the new culture that formed was much more heavily influenced by the original residents of India.

"The foundation of India's first major religion, Hinduism, is a perfect example of this."


	14. Hinduism

**Happy Fourth of July people! ( those who celebrate it)**

**And to those who don't celebrate America's Independence Day…**

**I still wish you a happy fourth day of the month of July. :)**

**Chapter 14: Hinduism**

Kida returned to her perch on the huge stack of books as the owls gathered around it. _In a way, this is funny_, Otulissa reflected. _Here we are, a group of fully matured owls perched before a member from an ancient race like hatchlings waiting for stories. Except for the fact that these stories are actually true._

Kida tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Now let's see…We already talked about the Indo-European migrations…how the Dravidians stayed…and how the Aryans and Dravidians fused together to create the Harappan society…and how we don't really know why it began or fell…"

"You were starting to talk about Hindooism," Bess interjected helpfully.

"Right! Thanks, nearly forgot.

"Hinduism is…a complex religion, or at least I personally think so. In terms of its history, Hinduism shows strong roots from the Aryan side of Indian culture, the one that brought cows from the plains of Central Asia when the people migrated. These incredibly useful and important hoofed mammals started scaling the prestige ladder in India, becoming respected symbols of wealth. Hindus took it to the next level, revering the cow as a sacred animal."

"Were owls ever a sacred animal to the humans?" Twilight asked, puffing up slightly at the thought.

Kida sent him an annoyed glance. "We'll get there when we get there. But we're here, in India, where owls were not revered; in fact, I'm not sure if they even had owls there.

"Let's return to the topic at hand, shall we? While cows were important in the time, the Vedas were much more important. Um…you guys wouldn't happen to have any holy books or anything now, would you?"

"What do you mean?" Otulissa asked, slightly confused. "We have tales of-"

Kida waved them away. "No, I mean a book that is like your absolute creed, that describes your beliefs and the rules your religion follows."

She was received with blank looks.

"Do you understand anything of what I just said?" Kida said, exasperated.

"Somewhat," Bess answered, dipping her quill in the ink again.

"Alright. Describe your religion to me."

"What?" Bess asked.

"Just tell me about it."

"Well…we believe in Glaux."

"Any other gods?" Kida questioned.

"No," they all replied promptly.

"That's enough for now," Kida finished. "And how do you know all this?"

The owls looked between each other before Otulissa answered, "It's what all owls believe in."

"It's what we were taught," Gylfie added.

"Okay. Now imagine everything you were taught on the subject of Glaux and the afterlife (if you believe in one), etc. so on and so forth written in a book that you could read. That would be your kind's holy book."

Realization lit the owls' eyes. _Actually_, Otulissa thought, blinking slightly, _that's not a bad idea._ That was what writing was for, wasn't it? Spreading knowledge, whether it was science or religion? Why hadn't they thought of this before? She took a mental note of the idea and resolved to complete such a work – sometime.

Kida's voice brought her back to attention. "The Vedas were the four holy books of the Hindus. Their stories and hymns and all were originally orally transmitted from generation to generation, same as your religion is passed on now, until about 600 BCE when the stories of the Vedas were written in Sanskrit. I don't know if you worship Glaux in any way…?" She trailed off, looking for an answer as the owls looked at each other.

"Nothing comes to mind," Soren commented.

"But we sometimes give our thanks to Glaux or sing some hymns, maybe even a little praying once in a while," Digger added. "I'm sure we've all done some of that."

Kida cracked a smile. "My, my, slacking off on our religious duties, aren't we?

"No, but really, humans can get downright fanatical about worship. I'm not saying all of them are; just that they can be. Many of the humans' religious texts, the Veda included, held various ways of worship of the gods, or in Hinduism's case, the Aryan and few Dravidian gods.

"Okay, now this is where it gets confusing. Notice the plural: godS. Many Hindus believe their faith is polytheistic – you do know what polytheistic means, yes?" Kida asked, suspiciously narrowing her eyes as though it was a great crime to not know the definition.

"Believing in more than one god," Otulissa recited without missing a beat.

Kida nodded. "Yep. And like I said, Hinduism had numerous gods, like Indra, who was the chief deity of the Rig Veda, and Varuna. So why did some Hindus believe that they were monotheists?"

That one had them all stumped. "How?" Martin inquired when it became apparent that no one knew.

Kida shrugged. "Good question."

"You don't know?" Twilight barked. "What nonsense is this? Either they believed in many gods and were poly…polytheists or they had one god and were monotheists!" His voice steadily grew louder, especially when he stuttered on the unfamiliar (big) word.

"What if there was only one god and he showed himself through many different faces?" Kida argued right back.

"…Huh?"

"…Think of the Hindu gods as all one entity, but reflecting different facets of it, sort of like a gem. Like…okay, Indra was a boisterous, violent guy; he liked fighting and he liked drinking, and therefore Indra was the wargod. Actually, originally he was a weathergod who through lightning bolts, but as time passed, he grew in Indians' minds until he became the most looked-up-to god, the powerful god who brought the army to the war.

"Then there was Varuna, the god of ethics. He was believed to keep order throughout the cosmos from his heavenly palace in the sky – yes, humans were a pretty creative bunch – and he hated any kind of deceit. How well you followed his rules determined whether you were put in the subterranean House of Clay, a place of evil, or the World of the Fathers, which was-"

"Like glaumora," Digger realized. "And the House of Clay is like hagsmire."

"Yep. And that is one way to interpret Hinduism. So I think. I'm not a Hindu, though," Kida shrugged.

"What are you?" Otulissa asked, interested.

A look of annoyance began to cross Kida's face. "It doesn't matter, but for the record, I'm an Atlantean. All Atlanteans have the same religion (we're a pretty close community, or at least, we were), and we never bothered to give it a name."

Kida charged on when she recognized the tell-tale signs of getting off-track.

"But the monotheistic approach is pretty rare, so just think of Hinduism as a polytheistic religion, okay?

"Now, we just touched on the type of afterlife the Hindus believed in, right? You know, the House of Clay and the World of the Fathers?"

The owls nodded in confirmation.

"Well, forget them. Not important. Brahman is.

"In about 800 BCE, maybe a somewhat later, Upanishads began. Disciples, who were pretty much all men, would gather before a sage and discuss the Vedas in a sort of conference. These Upanishads became very common, and they were very important because there are multiple ways to interpret a religion, as we just discovered with the whole monotheism versus polytheism of Hinduism.

"Wow. A lot of isms.

"But anyway, in Upanishads, the rules and belief system of Hinduism were developed so there was one common religion.

"The most important development that disciples made in their Upanishads was Brahman. They taught that there was a universal soul that all human souls were part of. This soul was, or is, eternal, constant, and genuine reality."

"Wait," Ruby protested. "Genuine reality?"

Kida raised her hands. "Hey, I'm just the messenger. Question the disciples and sages that lived two and a half thousand years ago, not me. It's all about faith; Hindus believed that Earth was flawed (which, for the record, it really is), and was constantly changing because of its need for improvement. Therefore, the world of the souls, a perfect world, did not change. It was the ultimate reality."

Otulissa was suddenly very grateful that Bess was taking some _tangible_ notes. They were really going to have to compare them.

"I already explained the Aryan influence on Hinduism; here's some of the Dravidian: Dravidians originally believed strongly in fertility and new life, reincarnation. Souls would return to Earth as plants, animals, and humans, leaving the dead bodies to enter a new, live one.

"In Hinduism, a soul would continuously reincarnate, residing in the World of the Fathers when waiting for its next incarnation, until it joined Brahman, the universal soul."

Silence.

"So there is no House of Clay," Coryn stated.

Kida simply shrugged.

"And what was that about the World of the Fathers?"

"…Just know that a soul will continually reincarnate until it has gained enough…credit, I guess you could call it, in good deeds and behavior to join the universal soul named Brahman. That was the goal of Hindus: to end the reincarnation cycle by joining Brahman.

"If you want more details, please reference the Samsara, a doctrine written by the Upanishads that describes Brahman more clearly. You'll have a difficult time finding one since the Upanishads ended in the 1400s, CE, but I don't know, they could still be publishing it."

"Was that a holy book too?" Ruby asked.

"No," Kida said, shaking her head. "It was an important book since it made the whole concept of Brahman more feasible in people's eyes, thereby gaining more followers, but the Samsara was not a holy book. That place is reserved for the Vedas.

"But I bet you are getting bored of all this religious discussion, so-"

"No, wait, I have one question," Otulissa declared, raising a talon. "How could you tell if someone had joined Brahman if you couldn't tell from someone's death?"

"Oh, that's a tricky one," Kida said, tapping her chin with a finger. "Well, apparently when a soul permanently escaped the cycle of physical reincarnation in a process called Moksa. It was difficult to achieve since it meant completely letting go of the physical world.

"Just as a heads up, the words 'physical' and 'spiritual' are going to be cropping up whenever we talk religion. A lot.

"Because a lot of people believed asceticism was the best way to-yes, Coryn, what is it?"

Otulissa looked up, startled at the exasperated and, well, more actually irritated tone in Kida's voice.

"What does asceticism mean?"

Now that she looked closer, Otulissa could see the irritation in Kida's face. There wasn't much playfulness there like there had been earlier, and Kida seemed more…impatient. And for some reason, Kida kept glancing at the light that the moon kept throwing across the room.

"It is the act of living a simple life without pleasure. No pleasure means no desire, and if you don't want anything, then it is much easier to give up a physical world full of…well, things. Heh.

"And join a spiritual world."

Her eyes flickered again, almost indiscernibly since Kida didn't have to turn her head to see them the way an owl would have to.

An interesting vision line, Otulissa thought.

"This time period in India was known as the Vedic Age," Kida continued. "It lasted from 1500 to 500 BCE (easy to remember, right?), or in other words, started with the Aryan migrations/invasions, which they carried out in the name of their rampaging god called Indra. Take note of the word 'rampaging;' the Aryans were pretty aggressive in their quest for new land and resources, but the Dravidians were friendly and helped the Aryans settle when they weren't fighting.

"Part of the fighting was also caused by their lack of a good, organized government. India was made up of hundreds of Aryan chiefdoms that were ruled by Rajas, or kings like you, Coryn, and a council of elders, somewhat like the Parliament in the Great Tree.

"On the other hand, their social system was the complete opposite of what you guys believe in. The Upanishads developed a caste system with very strict social classes; you were born into your class, and that was that. No refunds, trading, or moving.

"Although there are some where you would really want to. The lowest varna, or major social class, was the untouchables. This group was added later, as you can tell by the fact that you could guess their social standing by looking up the main word in the dictionary, and was considered so 'dirty' that if you touched them, you would be defiled. They were…widely disliked, to put it lightly, and were assigned the most dirty and unpleasant tasks.

"The second lowest varna was the shudras. They were landless peasants or serfs, people who had to work very hard and rarely made much wealth.

"Vaishyas were in the middle. They were the cultivators, the artisans, the merchants, basically the people who owned a home and had a hereditary line of work or family business.

"The second highest level was the kshatriyas, a group made up of warriors and aristocrats. They were a close second to the Brahmins, the priests who were at the top of the social ladder that they had created (go figure, right?). Pretty much equal, these were the most honorable and powerful classes. You wanted to follow your religious duties to be reincarnated into these groups. Once again, the Upanishads wrote a doctrine, this one called the Karma, to describe how good standards would lead to a reincarnation into a higher class. They actually had two justifications for this system: spiritually, it purified your soul. You treated everyone with respect and learned and were reincarnated into a better class next time. And politically, it justified your position. You shovel muck? Well, you must have been really bad in your past life. You deserve this job, now go do it.

"And in case you didn't notice, I used the word 'major' a lot to define these groups. Because this is a very complicated hierarchy. Within these varnas, castes, whatever you want to call them, there are hundreds, commonly thousands of subcastes known as jati. Your jati is determined by your job, and just like the varnas, you get your job, and you stick with your job. End of story.

"Now, individuals could not move between jati, BUT an ENTIRE jati could move its position up.

"Should you violate these rules in any way, shape or form, you will immediately be exiled and very soon, due to lack of resources, die. Thank you for your cooperation," Kida announced in a prim voice, her back straighter than an ice sliver. "This system never made it past India; actually, it largely died out in South India, although it's still going strong in the north where Hinduism is flourishing.

"Is that it?" Martin asked hopefully.

"As much as I would like to say yes…no." Kida's shoulders slumped. "This is really sad, but besides the caste system, there is one more major societal part of India and Hinduism that you need to know: the patriarchial society.

"I told you that whole women are weak domestic gatherers and big strong men go do the hunting would come back to haunt. Big strong men also made the rule that more physical muscles meant they had more mental muscles than women as well.

"I'm sorry, but you have no idea how much that got on my nerves. Ugh.

"Anyway, the men were in charge of Aryan society. Priests…were men. Warriors…were men. Political chiefs were men, too. Most of the Upanishad disciples were men, if not all. Descent was recognized through the male line.

"Here's how much power women had: no public authority. No religious authority; most never learned the Vedas, the holy book of all Hindus. Women were prohibited from getting any education. In all, women influenced the private familial affairs. And please note the word 'influenced.' They obeyed men, bore their men's children and hollowkept, or housekept, as they called it, their men's homes.

"The practice of the Law of Manu is a good way to show you the mentality the Hindus had about women: when a wife's husband died, the new widow was supposed to join her husband's body and spirit at the funeral pyre by dying to show her devotion, because after all, a woman was nothing without a man."

Otulissa stared, appalled.

"Yeah, that was never a very popular practice; people just don't seem to want to jump into some flames of death to intentionally burn to death, for some reason," Kida said acerbically.

"And I am going to stop right there."

"We'll continue?" Bess asked, setting down the quill hesitantly.

"Sure, but I'm getting worked up about this topic, and worse, I'm tired, so I won't be able to let it go. Therefore, I am going to go and get some sleep."

Fluidly, she slid down from the book-stack, landing a tad bit clumsily, and holding a hand over her mouth as she yawned. "Good night."

"Good night?" Twilight asked, tilting his head for a moment at the second word.

"Yeah. It must be, I dunno, two in the morning? Way past my bedtime…"

And muttering these nonsensical things, the Atlantean left for…someplace that the confused and wide-awake owls in her wake didn't know.

**Nah, it's not two. But it is still way past my bed time.**

**Good night!**


	15. Politics

**Okay. Before getting started, I want everyone to give a round of applause to SamPD2 for taking the time and effort to beta this story. I have NOT included said author's advice, but I will do so, after typing up all the history, as I said before.**

**Chapter 15: Politics**

"Hmmm.

"Mmmm.

"Meh."

Otulissa blinked and twisted her head around to face Kida, who was walking by reading a scroll, not paying any attention to where she was going and yet still missing any obstacles.

"How are you doing that?" Otulissa asked aloud.

"Hnh?" Kida looked up and met Otulissa's gaze with raised eyebrows.

"Reading and walking," Otulissa clarified. "How can you tell where you are going?"

Kida grinned, tucking the scroll away. "Peripheral vision," she replied, easily tapping the side of her head with the scroll. "The Homo branch has a very wide line of sight."

Otulissa nodded in response, returning her gaze to the room as Kida climbed up another stack of books to sit beside her on the edge. "I also have another question," Otulissa started.

"Knowing you, I'd say you have another two hundred questions," Kida replied, still smiling as she made full use of her eyeballs and looked at Otulissa from the corner of her eyes, an experience that Otulissa found wildly unfamiliar, but not uncomfortable. "We'd better get started."

"How can you be so adept in water, and yet still be a land mammal?" Otulissa posed.

Kida raised her eyebrows again. "You sound more interested in me than in the Others."

"Well…" Otulissa hesitated. "I just…as interesting as the Others are, you are my friend. And I would like to understand you better."

"Eh…not much to say," Kida shrugged. "I told you about how our city was half under the water the last time I was there, right.?"

"Yes."

"Well, over time, we adapted to it. We got to be very good at swimming, or any kind of movement in water really. Have you noticed how fast I am?"

Suddenly, Kida was sitting in her former relaxed position on the other side of Otulissa, leaving the Spotted Owl blinking in disorientation.

"We can move at the same speeds you do in water. Since water gives so much more resistance than air, though, that allows us to be extra-fast on land. Next?"

Otulissa felt excited with her scientific side springing to life. "How can your city be half underw-"

"Guys! She's up!" Twilight called to the rest of the crew as he was flying by. Everyone quickly filed in for the next session.

"Tell you later," Kida whispered almost inaudibly to Otulissa, and for an owl that was saying something. And then, with her incredible speed, Kida hopped to another, higher stack of books that rested above everyone else.

"Let class begin!" she cheerfully announced.

"Welcome to Asia, or more specifically China. And pay attention to this area; it is vastly important.

"It all began with early Chinese society along the Yellow River, which runs horizontally towards the Pacific. Legend says that Yao, Shun and Yu, three self-made men, established the civilization. The first man, Yao, was a virtuous, respectful guy who created harmony between people. Shun created harmony between measurements and units; he created standards for weights, measures and time. And the last man, Yu, was probably the most important of the three because he created harmony between the people and the environment by preventing major damage that the floods from the Yellow River could have caused, thereby allowing people to settle on the fertile banks.

"That last idea should sound very familiar.

"Thus began a series of agricultural villages that traded amongst each other and built themselves up into cities and states. A writing system greatly helped with this, despite the fact that it was very complex and difficult. Instead of using a phonetic of alphabetic system, it was more like hieroglyphics, assigning a picture to each word. There are tens of thousands of Chinese characters, and in order to read any common paper, you need to know between 5,000 and 7,000 of them.

"Yikes. Surprisingly, that system was sustained throughout all of history…

"Returning to ancient history, early Chinese society also had sharp social distinctions. There was a large emphasis on respect, not only between different social classes, but also between men and women. Pay attention to respect in China; it becomes a huge concept of daily life. Respect and honor.

"Ironically, early China's power sprung from western ideas, such as wheels and metallurgy."

"How is that ironic?" Coryn asked, puzzled.

"Thou shalt see," Kida sighed in an almost bored fashion. "At the moment, thou shalt learn the base of Ancient China's power civilization, and summarized, it is: respect, writing, harmony and coordination, and river valley.

"The power began when local cities decided to band together and form regional states. The three most important ones that you want to keep in mind were the Xia, the Shang and the Zhou.

"The Xia was the first great dynasty. It established the Chinese empire by organizing public life on a large scale that covered this huge landmass in 2200 BCE and maintained control of the empire until 1766 BCE, for almost five hundred years.

"Is five hundred years a famous historic number or what?

"Anyway, the Xia were founded by someone I have already introduced you to: Yu."

"Me?" Soren asked, confused.

Kida rolled her eyes. "No, Yu, y-u. The guy who prevented the floodplains from causing major damage. He was also the person to establish the tradition of having a monarchy rule China's empire.

"I already mentioned that the Xia dynasty fell in 1766 BCE, the point in time where the Shang dynasty rose and took the position of resident imperial family. The Shang gained power through their better organization; unlike the Xia, they kept written records. However, they not only had better brains, but also better brawn. Remember way back when bronze was the hot metal? Yes? Well, this was that time, and the Shang were the people who had the bronze. They monopolized its production in the Yellow River Valley, keeping it away from the Xia who needed it to keep its strength.

"Now, the bronze was not just lying around in the Shang's vaults as the Shang laughed at the Xia. Of course not. Instead, the Shang used the bronze to make their own high-tech weapons, getting a physical advantage that allowed them to take control.

"Now, just because they took control doesn't mean they changed everything. They kept a vast network of local kings that submitted to them, forming political allies that were the source of their power and maintaining a powerful and centralized rule as the Xia had done before them.

"And here's a fun fact: the Shang dynasty buried its rulers in the Yin Tombs, an underground complex that was filled with jade, a very precious stone that symbolized wealth in China, chariots, weapons, pottery, bronze and even sacrificial victims. I mean, an emperor needs his servants in the afterlife, right?"

Coryn shivered with repulsion at that statement.

"But returning to topics less morbid, the Yin Tombs show the large amount of power the Shang kings held and the respect their people held for them. Additionally, this is the first sign of belief in an afterlife that we have seen in China.

"But despite their powerful foundation and popular support, the Shang dynasty fell in 1122 BCE to the Zhou dynasty, which lasted almost twice as long until 256 BCE. Now, if I were to characterize the Zhou, I would call them tough warriors. They fought on two fronts: nomads in the west and the Shang in the east. But despite their frequent battles, they were an organized and just as importantly, ethical people. In fact, their ethics made them make many allies, and since the Shang's power came from these former allies, the Zhou dynasty took over in a further show of the fact that political allies meant power.

"So far, the political structures have been centralized and tight. The Zhou was one of the few dynasties to deviate from this path, instead opting for a more decentralized kingdom. Why, you might ask? Because it is very hard to control huge pieces of land. Therefore, they created networks that gave more responsibility to subordinates who would run their land according to the emperor's general wishes. The Zhou, however, saw one very possible problem with this set-up. Powerful subordinates meant more likelihood of a successful rebellion against the Zhou's rule. Thus, to prevent this, the Zhou arranged marriages with many of the families of their subordinates in order to create familial relationships that would prevent political fighting.

"The most important achievement, or action I should say, of the Zhou dynasty was the creation of the Mandate of Heaven at the beginning of their reign. The Mandate of Heaven was very similar, if not identical, to the concept of divine right, if you remember it."

"The idea that kings were divine?" Twilight snorted.

Kida looked pleased. "Hey, hey, someone's been paying attention!"

Otulissa smiled slightly at the look of sheepishness, almost embarrassment on Twilight's face at being caught interested in a topic that relied so heavily on bookwork.

"And yes. They said that the heavenly powers granted deserving individuals, called the sons of heaven, the right to govern as a link between the earth and the heavens. Actually, it was just a way to justify their 'right' to depose the Shang dynasty, but this mandate was used as an excuse to be on top until the 1900s, only a hundred years before I left.

"The third dynasty of China fell, like I said, in 256 BCE much like the Xia did. Basically, the Zhou's subordinates created their own organizations and power bases using the new metal known as iron, thereby becoming independent of the Zhou and cutting the alliances as they were unneeded. Thus, the Zhou lost its political power and its military strength. The subordinates left them out in the cold as they progressed beyond the standards of their former masters, and civil war broke out in China.

"And I leave you there with that political landscape in mind."

**You can tell that I am rushing to get to the fun part of adding in the owls' viewpoints, can't you?**

**All info included in this one!**


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